Knuckles' ARK
by TheMagicKumquat
Summary: The final showdown between good and evil! The villains are revealed, but will all wrongs be made right? Will good triumph? *COMPLETE* *Final chapter FIXED* *Yay*
1. Default Chapter

            Yo people! This is my first-ever non-DBZ fanfic... and I'm very exited (not like anybody cares...). Words to the wise: expect weird stuff.  Not 'stupid-humor', but just _weird _stuff.  Also, yes; Knuckles is talking to the Master Emerald as a form of keeping a journal, and no, I don't know why. Warning: there's some mild cursing, innuendo, and bizarre situations, but unless you have a very… _active _mental window, there won't be much to worry about in this fic.  The first chapter is meant to be humorous (somewhat.  I don't expect you to laugh out loud or anything.  If you do… you're very easily amused), but the next few chapters will begin to develop a plot—of sorts.  Finally, at first this story will seem like so many others out there, but remember, things aren't always what they seem, so be on the lookout later.  For now just sit back and enjoy!

I own Sonic not at all.  The closest I come to that is a plushy that my brother has and the Sonic the Hedgehog video games.  I just own this particular story.  Now go read!

Knuckles' ARK

    Space Colony ARK: Day 1, just after breakfast

            Master Emerald,

            Yes, I know after last time when you repeated all of the things I told you in confidence to the Chaotix, I vowed I'd never speak to you again.  But I need an outlet for the frustration that I know will rear its ugly head in a few days, so I decided I'd get a head start on it.  I'm on Space Colony ARK, exact room: kitchen. Why am I not back planet side, you wonder? Well, I was getting to that. 

            We all tried to return to the planet about an hour ago, but when we got to Eggman's hidden base, we discovered it was teeming with GUN Soldiers waiting to arrest us- all of us- on the charges that we'd resisted arrest, destroyed valueable military property and equipment, and terrorism. 

            We wouldn't have escaped if Rouge hadn't acted quickly and pulled down her top. The nose-bleeds suffered by everyone in the room (possibly even Amy, but I can't prove that) had not only coated the visors of the military officer's helmets making sight impossible, but also coated the floor and made crossing in their heavy mechs impossible unless they really wanted to fall and be crushed by their own machines.

            Our group high-tailed it back to the transporter and, after Eggman rigged up a time bomb on the machine, escaped back to the space colony. And so here I sit, trapped here with happy-go-lucky fox boy, too-positive Sonic, ever-annoying Amy Rose, the Eggman himself, and the plotting, busty bat-girl: Rouge.

            I'm in hell.

    Space Colony Ark: Day 4, Around 10:30 PM

            Master Emerald,

            I know I skipped a few days, but I said I'd start talking again, not be faithful. However, right now is a good time to tell about the events of the past few days. For starters, Shadow isn't dead. We all thought he was, especially Sonic. The blue guy has been beating himself up about it for the past few days, whining about how he "should've saved him" and stuff like that. Well, it turns out that Sonic spent all of that time psychologically damaging himself for no reason what so ever, because Shadow appeared to us yesterday morning... with a bang.

            We all woke up to the word "PERVERT!" being hollered repeatedly throughout the space colony, and several loud, metallic clanging sounds. I met Sonic and Tails in the hallway and we ran toward the source of the sounds. Upon our arrival, we discovered Rouge, wearing a short nightshirt, beating an already injured black-hedgehog against the wall.

            Tails and I restrained the enraged bat while Sonic lifted Shadow into a sitting position. At that time, Dr. Eggman arrived along with Amy, who was wearing striped pajamas and holding her hammer baseball bat style, ready to swing. When they realized whom Sonic was holding, Amy ran to find a first aid kit while Dr. Eggman asked Rouge what had happened and why the hell she would beat up Shadow like that, which was the one thing none of us had thought to do.

            "The lights were off, and I woke up to the sounds of heavy breathing and a hand on my thigh. What would you have done, Doctor?" she asked angrily. The Doctor muttered something about PMS and Shadow probably wanting to die happy, which earned him a good kick in the stomach.

            Amy returned at about this time with a lot of Ace-wrap and a vat of hydrogen peroxide, and Tails and I went back to Rouge's room with the aforementioned bat girl seeing as we were only getting in the way. 

            We waited.

            Rouge and Tails sat on her bed while I leaned against the wall, waiting for any news of the black hedgehog's condition. The white bat was beginning to feel bad about having flown off the handle earlier (yet hiding it surprisingly well), and the fox boy was spouting all sorts of sentimental crap to make her feel better. I just stood there, trying not to listen. Unlike Tails, I'm not an effeminate male. At all. I will admit, however, that I did cave in once.

            "Eggman would've said 'I missed you so much, Mother'," I interrupted Tails's speech. The two just stared at me blankly for a minute before Rouge understood what I was talking about. She began to laugh so hard that she fell backwards off of the bed. 

            "I don't get it..." the embarrassed fox muttered, pulling Rouge back up. Between giggles, she explained the joke.

            "He was referring to what I said to the Doctor earlier," she supplied. Tails was silent for a moment, then widened his eyes and opened his mouth slightly, signifying that he understood.

            "Th-that's disgusting!" he whispered harshly, glancing around nervously. Rouge gave him a pat on the head.

            "You're adorable!" she squealed. Luckily, the door opened in time to save me from drowning in sap. In the doorway was Amy and, oddly enough, Omochao.

            "How's Shadow?" Tails asked, hopping to his feet. Amy smiled.

            "He's going to be fine, he's just a little unconscious right now," the pink hedgehog frowned over at Rouge, who glared back. 

            "What's Omochao doing here?" I asked, a little shocked to see it. Apparently, I wasn't the only one. Rouge and Tails also stared at the robot with shocked expressions.

            "I'm Omochao, and I'm here to—I'm Omochao, and I'm here to—," the little robot repeated dizzily, spinning around madly. Amy sighed and bashed it with her hammer, knocking it unconscious.

            "Shadow, still in his super form, survived his fall through the atmosphere. Injured, he laid low in the Mushroom Hills, where he found a chaos emerald." Bat-girl's eyes widened at this. Although she told me that she had other things on her mind now, I had a feeling that she'd never really give up treasure hunting.

            "Where's the emerald?" Rouge asked, and the pink hedgehog glared at her. I somehow don't think that these two will get along very nicely.

            "Just forget about it, bat girl. I don't know where it is right now because I didn't see it, but Shadow said it's in a safe place! Anyway, at the same time Shadow was recovering, the military went to the chao gardens and stadiums in search of Omochao here. The captured him and tried torture to get him to reveal another transport to the ARK.  He was on the run from them when he found Shadow and hitched a ride back up here."  

            "What did they do to him, the military I mean?" Tails asked with wide eyes. Amy was about to reply, but Omochao, who was suddenly conscious, spoke first.

            "Bananas. The poked me with bananas! shiver And I saw dead people!" We all looked at Amy, who shrugged.

            "Apparently, he's allergic to bananas."

            Anyway, we all went back to bed.  Tails sat up with Rouge and talked for awhile, Eggman decided he wouldn't get back to sleep and went to work in his lab, Amy got a head start on breakfast, Sonic stayed in the infirmary with Shadow's unconscious body, and I sat in the control room and looked at all of the security monitors.  Okay, so nobody went back to bed.  However, I'm forgetting one very important detail:  Omochao has gone mad.  We aren't quite sure how—Rouge theorizes that it must have something to do with the bananas—and so we have him locked in one of the little containment tubes in the control room.  I was watching him as I sat, shaking my head in disbelief and pity every time he rammed into the glass, shrieking, "If you let me out, I'll tell you how many Omochao are in this level!"  I kinda' felt sorry for the little guy, but I couldn't be bothered to do anything about it.  I eventually wandered back to my room and stared at the ceiling until the clock next to my bed loudly proclaimed it to be six o'clock in the morning. 

            I got up with no drowsiness—living a life of constant vigilance can do that to a person—and followed my nose (no Fruit Loops™ pun intended) to the kitchens where Amy had just finished cooking up a HUGE breakfast.  I'm not particularly fond of Amy Rose, in fact I normally can't stand being in the same room as her, but I must admit that her cooking is wonderful.  Hell, she made the dehydrated space food taste like something other than the freeze-dried monkey crap that it is.

            Amy Rose, I drink to you and your fine cooking ability.

            After breakfast, I headed down to the infirmary to see if Shadow's condition had changed any.  I met up with Rouge and Eggman talking in hushed voices outside the door. They turned at my approach.

            "Good morning, Treasure Hunter," Rouge winked. 

            "Knucklehead," Eggman nodded.  I grunted a hello, not really in the mood for pleasantries.  "What brings you down here, echidna?" 

            "Just curious to see how everyone's second-favorite spiky rat is doing.  I imagine bat girl's little tantrum last night really left him worse for the wear."   Rouge's face darkened and she gave me a Death Glare™ that could burn flowers.

            "He should've been more careful, then.  He knows that I'm not the type to just sit around and be taken advantage of, and, as a result, should've been more conscious of where he was putting his hands," she said snootily, pushing her little black nose into the air.  "But, I figure he didn't mean anything by it other than just trying to wake me up, which is the only reason, Treasure Hunter, that he isn't dead."

            "I'd say that the only reason he isn't dead, my dear Rouge," Eggman began, "is because you were afraid to hit him harder for fear of breaking a nail."  The bat smiled sweetly, and replied in a voice that didn't go with her face at all—

            "Why don't you just shut up, you bottom feeding, mother loving—"

            At that time, the door opened and little Miles Prower walked out, all smiles.

            "He's awake!" the boy told us, and ushered us into the room.  Sonic sat by the bed, laughing softly at something the black hedgehog was saying.  Shadow turned his head as we entered.

            "Hello Doctor, Echidna.  And Rouge, such a pleasure seeing you again," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.  "I'm sorry that I didn't have time to greet you last time we met, but I was busy having my _brains bashed out_.  You understand, of course."  The bat was nearly shaking with suppressed rage.

            "Yes, such a shame… that your brains weren't really bashed out, that is," she smiled sweetly and said in a tone that completely belied her anger.  No wonder she was a spy.

            "How are you feeling, Shadow?" Eggman questioned.  How is he feeling?  Well, he fell burning through the earth's atmosphere, exerted what was probably the last of his energy on the Chaos Control technique, and was beaten against a pole by an enraged hellcat.  And we don't even have aspirin up here.  In short, it was a stupid question.

            "Not like the Ultimate Life Form, that's for sure.  Dammit, my head!" he moaned, clutching his skull.  Sonic began to fuss over him like a mother hen, which really confused me.  I mean, c'mon, they weren't even friends, and suddenly the Blue One was treating him like a bosom buddy that he's known since his toddling years.  God, these people are messed up.  I decided that I had to get outta there.

            "I'm gonna go for a little walk," I said by way of excusing myself.  Why I bother, I don't know.  Sonic and Tails, the only people I really knew in the room, were too busy coddling the self-proclaimed Ultimate Life Form to know I was going anywhere.  Well, maybe not.

            "Hey, if you see Amy, have her bring us some breakfast!" Sonic called after me as I strode down the hallway.  I didn't bother answering; I wasn't going that way anyhow.

            I spent the rest of my day wandering around the space colony, but I didn't get very far.  The place is absolutely humongous!  There is a draw back to that, though.  I got lost.  Three or four times, actually.  I walked in on Amy taking a shower, found a stack of naughty magazine's in Eggman's lab, discovered the laundry room (where Rouge was busy putting some of her unmentionables in the wash and threw a detergent cap at my head when I asked her why her bra looked like a bowling bag case Sonic had once), and broke a few robots.  It was, all in all, a boring day, and so I went back to the infirmary to talk Sonic into coming for a run.  He did, and life was good.

    Space Colony ARK:  Day 5, 11:00 PM

            Master Emerald,

            I hate this place.  No, I _despise _it.  I _loathe_ it.  And you know what?  I hate bats.  Every single one of them ever born I damn to hell a million times… times 11!  And, I hate hedgehogs of _every color_.  Fat men and foxes, too.  I HATE EVERYBODY!!  Why? I'll tell you, if you'll just wait for one DAMN SECOND!  ::Heavy breathing::

            Okay, I'm ready.  Today started out all right, but quickly went downhill.  I rose at six as usual (well, as has been usual for the past five days) and discovered I wasn't alone.  There was a figure standing at the end of my bed with one arm raised in the air.  Instinctively, I tackled them, wrapping my arms around their throat.

            "Dammit Knuckles, what're you doing?!" a feminine voice croaked out from around my hands.  It was at that time that the door flew open, revealing a very startled looking group of everyone else on the ARK (did I mention that Shadow is walking now?).  The lights flashed on and pinned under me was Rouge the Bat, recovering just enough sense to start beating me with the toothbrush she held in her right hand and cursing at me as best she could in her choked voice.

            "GET OFFA HER!" Amy shrieked, bounding into the room and bashing me over the head with a hammer she pulled out of nowhere.  As I dizzily rolled onto my side and Rouge got to her knees, Amy continued to shriek all sorts of stuff about me being a molester and the like.  Sonic raced in and dragged Amy back to the doorway, while Tails did the same with a struggling Rouge, who sashayed her way with him over to the others.

            "What's goin' on in here, Knux?" Sonic asked, stepping back into the room alone.  I glared at the lot of them. 

            "Why don't you ask our little night-prowler here?" I growled, gesturing to the bat with one hand as I rubbed my head with the other.  Rouge, with a flabbergasted look, put one hand to her chest and asked:

            "Me?"

            "What's he talking about, Miss Rouge?" Tails asked, "Did you have anything to do with this?"  I have gone over the whole 'dumb question' thing before, correct?  Good. 

            "I just came in to wake him up for breakfast!" she exclaimed, pulling her robe more tightly closed.  "I figured you'd want to eat."  

            "Why the hell didn't you just turn on the lights," I growled, "instead of sneaking in here like some sort of thief?"  She yawned, raising her arm above her head.

            "I like it dark," she said simply.  That's right, bats _do _like the dark, don't they Knuckles?

            I felt stupid—incredibly, ashamedly stupid.  She came to wake me up for breakfast, and I blindly attacked her, making myself look not only like some sort of crazed, rabid, raping monster, but also making myself look like an idiot afterward.  What a wonderful way to start a morning.

            "Hm… Well, who's up for breakfast?" Sonic asked brightly, ever the peacemaker.  "Are you coming too, Knuckles?" 

            "No, I'm going to sit in here and rot in my embarrassment for the rest of the day," I answered, which I didn't do but I'll get to that later, from the floor.  The hedgehog merely shrugged and closed the door on his way out. 

            I remained somewhat true to my word, and berated myself for my rashness and stupidity for around eight hours, until I heard a knock at my door.  I steadily ignored it until a voice I'd come to recognize better than my own penetrated the steel door.

            "I came to see if you wanted lunch, Treasure Hunter."  I opened the door and came face to face with a rather flustered looking jewel thief.

            "I see you learned how to knock," I sneered, not at all in a mood to be nice to the cause of my horrible day, "Afraid of a repeat of this morning?"  She smiled coyly.

            "Not at all.  I just decided I'd spare you the embarrassment of getting a beating from me now that I'm wide awake if you tried something again."  I frowned.  "Aw, don't be like that!  Come on; let's go get something to eat.  Everybody else ate a few hours ago."  When I continued to ignore her, she decided to be polite, if angry, about it.  "Look Knuckles, I didn't mean to freak you out this morning.  Had I known what was going to happen, I would've turned on the light in the first place.  But I didn't, and everything happened the way it did.  I'd like to eat lunch with you as a way of making it up, but if you continue to carry on like this, you're just going to have to eat lunch alone."

            That was closer to an apology than I expected from Rouge, and as much as I hated to admit it, I was ravenous, and so agreed to her lunch proposal.  Besides, I hadn't had company while eating for a long time, and I thought it would make a nice change.  Too bad things don't always turn out how they're supposed to.

            We walked down the halls of the colony, attempting to make polite conversation.  I suppose it would've helped if we talked about things we both knew about, but you, Master Emerald, were definitely an off subject, and I didn't know what else Rouge liked except for large, expensive gems.  We instead talked about Shadow's miraculous recovery, Omochao's madness, and Amy's cooking.  It was a very boring conversation.

            We reached the kitchens after a moment, and, luckily, no one was there.  We walked into the back, found some leftovers and brought them back to the front area.  The silence endured for a few minutes until Rouge decided to speak.

            "When all of this blows over, and we can go home, what'll you do?" she asked, munching on some apple slices between bites of her sandwich.  That was a very good question.  What was I going to do?  Where would I go?  Probably back to Angel Island and the Shrine of the Master Emerald…

            "Where I belong," I answered simply.  Rouge laughed.

            "What kind of answer is that?" she asked.

            "One that's just general enough to work," I replied.  She flashed a fanged smile at me; it was all too obvious that she was trying to be friendly, but I really didn't feel like it at the moment, and scowled deeper.  

            "Aw, c'mon and smile big guy.  I bet you're really good looking when you aren't trying so hard to give yourself premature wrinkles," she teased, or at least I think she was teasing.  It didn't matter, she was getting way too familiar with me—she had even stopped calling me 'Treasure Hunter'—and it was starting to bug me.  I decided to be frank.

            "I don't—," my reply was cut off by a thunderous explosion that sounded down the hall.  The next instant, Tails came running around the corner, screaming his head off, closely followed by what appeared to be a jet engine complete with boosters attached to the back.  The boy dove under a table just as the machine put on a burst of speed and rocketed into the room.  Acting on my instincts, I threw Rouge to the floor and was about to dive down myself when the engine made another loop and shot toward my head.  I would have been decapitated by the blow if Tails, who was also on the floor, and the treasure-hunting bat hadn't each grabbed grabbed an ankle and yanked me down with them. 

            "What the hell is going on in here Tails?!" Rouge demanded, reaching over me and shaking the little fox (no sexual reference intended) by the scruff of his neck.  With some difficulty (I was covered by an arm at the time) I flipped myself over onto my stomach and shouted much the same thing.  The boy looked afraid for his life.

            "Eggman and I were designing a mech—the best one ever created—when the engine we were using just came alive!" Tails protested. 

            "What were you doing working with Eggman?" I demanded, shocked that Tails would even consider standing in the same lab with the man, "He probably rigged the engine to come alive!"  While that was being said, we slithered on our bellies over behind the thick, steel counters for more protection.  Once safely hidden, Tails shook his head.

"No," he insisted, "I helped with the construction.  I watched his every move.  He didn't do anything!"  Meanwhile, the mad engine, while still flying about out of control and smashing the tables in, was beginning to slow.  Apparently, Rouge had noticed it as well.

            "Hey, it's slowing down you guys!  If we work quickly, we can stop it.  Tails, do you know how that engine works well enough to turn it off in about, say, three seconds?" she asked, lifting his head so that he looked directly into her face.  He nodded and she dropped him on the floor.  She continued, "Knuckles, I know firsthand how strong you are.  I think that if you and I can grab onto the front and push it enough to slow it for just a few seconds, Tails can shut it down."

            "Rouge, that's crazy!" Tails exclaimed exactly what I had been thinking, "If that thing falls on you, you'll be crushed!  It weighs over a ton!"  She winked.

            "Hey, don't worry about Knuckles and me, kid.  You're going to have to get the job done quickly so we can get out of there without being smashed.  Concentrate on yourself, and work fast."  She turned to me.  "Well, are you up to it Treasure Hunter?"  

            "Of course," I said nonchalantly.  No way I'd voluntarily let her know that stopping massive jet engines wasn't something I did every day.  The bat gave us a crooked grin.

            "Then GO!"  And we were off, Rouge and I running quickly out into the room, and Tails standing beside the counter ready to fly.  The engine did a half turn and it was there that we saw our chance.  We ran at top speed toward the machine and leapt at it head on, only to be knocked off and onto the floor.  We both rolled in different directions just in time to avoid being crushed as it dove.

            "Change in plans!" I called, "Jump on from the back and climb to the front.  Push from there."  She nodded and we were off again.  She hooked to the right and I to the left, and then we jumped and grasped onto the top of the burning hot machine. I flipped to the front and the bat did the same.

            "PUSH!" I heard her shout, and across the room Tails took to the sky and shot toward us.  Rouge beat her wings furiously as I poured more strength into my efforts.  Tails reached the engine. 

            "HURRY UP!" I called, knowing that the thick, steel wall couldn't be to far away from us.  The fox pulled out a few parts and took to the sky.  Rouge and I did so a moment later, just in time to avoid being turned into two lovely smears on the wall.  

            From the air I surveyed the damage in the room.  There were several large dents in the wall and floor, seven smashed tables, and the heavy engine was embedded in the floor near the entryway.  Amy was going to be pissed.

            I didn't have time to dwell on that, however, because the next thing I knew, I was back on the floor being held to Rouge's bosom in a crushing embrace.

            "We did it!" she exclaimed, hopping up and down with my head still in her arms.  "Knuckles, you were wonderful!" she squealed, "Have you ever considered a job in the spy business?"        

            "Have you ever considered letting Knuckles breathe?" a voice asked from the doorway.  Rouge released me and we turned to see Sonic, Shadow and Amy standing in the doorway.  Amy had her hands on her head in disbelief, Sonic whispered something to Shadow and elbowed him in a secretive fashion, and Shadow cast a calculating glance around the room and chuckled at whatever the blue hedgehog had said to him.  I _know_ they were talking about me.  Shadow turned his eyes to Rouge.

            "That's some nice handiwork, Rouge," he said, gesturing to my face, which must have been more red than normal.  "Can you do that any-old-time, or only on special occasions?"  I swear to you, Master Emerald, that I will kill Tails and Eggman for creating that engine; I'll kill Rouge for embarrassing me and causing my second nosebleed in the space of one week; I'll kill Shadow for rubbing in my embarrassment, I'll kill Sonic just for being a hedgehog, and I'll kill Amy for hitting me.  Reasoning?  If she doesn't need a reason to swing that hammer around and hit a guy, why do I need a reason for homicide?  Amy never gets reprimanded or anything because none of the guys have the guts to hit her except for Eggman, and Rouge won't be bothered to do it unless she gets insulted or struck.  However, Amy's excuse that I was 'being a pervert' was apparently reason enough for the others. 

            In the space of one hour, my 'List of Impending Death' tripled.  Would someone please explain this to me?  

            I thought not.

    In the next chapter of Knuckles' ARK, a bit of plot is revealed, Amy and Rouge get to know each other, and junk happens!  Stay tuned!


	2. Hey, some plot!

               Knuckles' ARK

            Chapter two… ooh, things are starting to get exciting, no?  I thought not ::pout::.  Okay, just a couple of things different here.  1.  These aren't all going to be Knuckles talking to the Master Emerald; there will be journal entries from other characters, and a few 'fly on the wall' perspectives.  2.  There will be a few scenes with co-ed bathing (not all in this chapter), all of the same gender, however.  No, there is no sexual innuendo in that.  In several places, a group of females or males taking a bath together is perfectly acceptable, and it is in my story too.  Just thought I'd warn everyone.  Hm, I think that's it!  Enjoy, please!

    Space Colony ARK:  Day 6, 7:30 P.M.—Fly on the Wall.

            The dark figure entered the room, easily recognized by the silhouette.  It approached the larger shadow in the back of the small cell.

            "I came as fast as I could," It panted.  "Is there something wrong?"  The larger figure turned and regarded the other in the dark room.  It spoke.

            "You're the only one on this whole colony who understands me, you know," It began, "and as thanks, I'm going to let you in on a little secret.  You see, things don't always have to be 'work work work'.  A man needs a little fun in his life, you know?  Especially in a situation such as ours: stuck up here for who knows how long."  He had risen during His speech and walked to the back corner of the room.  Carefully, the smaller figure followed.   
            "What's this?" the small one gasped as the other figure hit a switch and lit a monitor mounted into a desk.  On the monitor was a plain bedroom, like all the others in the colony, except that it was currently occupied.

            The figure watched with a sense of satisfaction deep in his core as the other took in the sight before him.  True, the plan was a bit crude, and a bit risky, but the figure felt that if he could turn the other, then he would be that much closer to showing up his rival.  He hadn't exactly lied when he said that the other was the only one who understood him, either.  The figure rubbed his chin and watched the screen thoughtfully.  As the smaller one turned away, He bared his teeth in a smile.

    Fifteen minutes later on floor 6, block C—Ladies Bathroom

            "Come on, Rose!"

            "No."

            "Why not?" 

            "I don't feel like it."

            Rouge threw her hands up in exasperation.  She'd forgotten how difficult little girls could be.

            "The doctor rationed the water Amy.  If you want the supply to last, you'll follow the rules and come with me," the bat persuaded.  Amy Rose stomped her foot down hard on the steel floor.

            "If you want the supply to last, you'll wait and take a bath later," the pink hedgehog shot back.  Truth be told, she didn't trust the woman at all, and most certainly didn't want to share a bathtub with a complete stranger.  "You go first.  I'll take one tonight, just don't drain the water."  Rouge put her hands on her hips.

            "By then the water'll be all dirty and cold.  Just come on, I won't bite you," she winked.  

            "I don't find that very reassuring," Amy muttered, staring at the floor and walking past the older woman and into the bathroom.  Rouge followed.

            "God, this thing takes longer to fill up than I thought," the bat complained, wrapped up in a purple towel and standing at the edge of the huge tub.  "It's apparent that when the colony was built this particular tub was meant to be used for all of the women on the ARK."

            "Kind of like now?" Amy asked, also watching as the water poured into a bathtub mounted into the floor the size of a moderately large swimming pool, if not as deep.

            "Exactly.  No wonder Eggman is making us bathe together, filling this thing up too often, even considering ARK's water supply, would deplete our reserves far too quickly.  At least the guys have to do the same thing."  A few moments later, the bath was filled with steaming water.  With an eager smile and half-lidded eyes, Rouge slipped out of her towel and into the water, leaning back with a sigh.  "I don't think I've ever had a bath that felt this good in all of my life."  She cracked an eye open and saw the twelve-year-old hedgehog still standing by the edge of the basin, looking at her warily.

            "What?" she asked when she noticed the bat looking at her.  Rouge sat up and matched the girl's glare.

            "What's your problem?" she demanded, "If you're worried that I might be into girls, forget it.  I have a long list of people who would assure you I'm not."  Amy looked taken aback.

            "It's not that, Miss Rouge."  The treasure hunter looked at the hedgehog intently.  The girl swished her toes around in the steaming water and looked at the wall, seeming hesitant to voice her question.  "Would you really have let him kill me?"

            "What?" Rouge demanded; this hadn't been at all what she was expecting.

            "Eggman, on Prison Island.  Would you have let him shoot me?"  Rouge released her breath harshly and turned to face Amy.

            "The truth, Rose?  Yes, I would have."  Amy's eyes grew cold.  "It isn't anything personal.  It was my job to tail Eggman and find out what he was up to.  I couldn't risk blowing my cover.  Criminal Investigation is a very dangerous business; if Eggman had suspected at all that I wasn't with him completely, I would have been in big trouble.  Besides," she shut her eyes again, "do you know how much the President is paying me for the two tasks I completed?"

            "How much?" Amy asked, her curiosity overriding her anger for the moment.  Rouge smirked.

            "Let's just say that I no longer need my plans for the theft of the Hope Diamond."  They were quiet for awhile- Rouge relaxing in the steaming water that just came up over her chest, and Amy still swishing her toes in it from the floor.  Rouge's left lip quirked up slightly as she heard the sound of Amy Rose easing herself into the tub next to her—that had been too easy.  Now for the slightly more difficult part.  Without opening her eyes, the white bat spoke.

            "Why don't we get to know each other a little better, hm?  We girls have to stick together, ya' know."  Amy looked squeamish. 

            "I… don't really have anything to say," she said dipping her head under the water and shaking it dry once she'd resurfaced."  

            "I'll go first then, and you can talk as you think of things," the treasure hunter said, opening her eyes and sitting up so that her upper body was above the water.  "I was born in a small town near Baton Rouge one June twentieth to a French white bat and a Spanish black bat:  Mr. Blanc Bat and his lovely wife Kohl.  The two others in my litter were still born."

            "I'm sorry."

            "Don't be.  Three years later, my mother gave birth again, this time two babies died, and two lived.  My brother, Akai, and my sister, Mascara, were the survivors that time.  The other two died shortly after birth."

            "You have a sister?  What does she look like?"  

            "She has grayish-white fur and is incredibly overweight."  Rouge said matter-a-factly.  Amy looked appalled.

            "How can you say such a horrible thing?" she demanded.  Rouge laughed.

            "My mother favored my younger sister, you see," the bat explained.  "Kohl Bat had always wanted a big family, but was rather barren in the womb, and, as a result, my siblings and I were hard to come by.  My mother blamed me for the in-the-womb deaths of my litter's siblings, and I was loathed for what she had called 'stealing all of the looks'.  Mother was a little crazy in my opinion."

            "What about your brother?" the pink hedgehog inquired, looking for all the world that she wanted a happy ending to this story.

            "Akai?  He works in New Orleans in my father's fishing business supporting my mother and sister.  As a side job every year, he makes fireworks for Mardi gras, and my sister makes necklaces.  Now, how about you Rose?  Where're you from?"  Amy looked a little shocked that Rouge was asking questions, but she decided that if the bat had opened up to her, she should do the same.

            "I have an apartment in Station Square," was the short reply.  Rouge rolled her eyes.

            "Any siblings?" she prompted.

            "Two; Josh and Jake."

            "Older or younger?"

            "Older."

            "Color?"

            "Brown and white with brown."

            "Parents?"

            "Amanda and Jonathon Rose."

            "Occupations?"

            "Housewife and engineer."

            "I see…" Rouge trailed off.  The two sat in silence, until Amy thought up a question.

            "Was being a spy your first job?" she asked shyly.  Rouge blinked at that.

            "No, actually.  Aside from treasure hunting, when I was twelve I worked as a waitress at a bar down the street from my house," the bat said, shifting slightly in the water.  "Would you hand me the shampoo?"

            "What?  Oh, here," Amy blinked, handing the shampoo to the treasure hunter.  "Did you work anywhere else?"  Rouge nodded, scrubbing her fur furiously.

            "To bring in some extra money, I did a bit of modeling."

            "Really?  For what?" Amy asked, eyes wide.

            "This and that, mostly swimsuits or underwear for catalogues," Rouge explained, still working the soap into the fur on her head.  "But I wouldn't recommend it.  Modeling pays well, but you can't get very far unless you're willing to take your clothes off every once in a while, at least in my experience."

            "Well of course, in your experience," Amy said a little bitterly, "Who wouldn't want you to take your clothes off?"  Rouge didn't answer; instead she dunked her head underwater and rinsed off the shampoo.

            "How about you, Rose?  You ever had a job?" the bat asked, grabbing a sponge and cleaning her wings.

            "I had a job in the burger place in Station Square.  Other than that, I baby sit and help out at the Chao Gardens," Amy confided, lifting one foot out of the water and inspecting her toenails for dirt.  The bat nodded.

            "I hear you're good with chaos, and I bet you work well with kids.  Is there any soap in here?" she asked.  The pink hedgehog handed it to her wordlessly, and Rouge climbed out of the bath and began to cover her body with the white foam.  Amy continued to stare at her foot.

            "How did you become a spy?" 

            "That," Rouge smirked, twisting her torso around to clean the backs of her legs, "is a story I don't mind telling at all."  The bat finished scrubbing and hopped back into the still warm water, rinsed off, and began her tale.  "I was thirteen and had finally realized that what I wanted out of life was gems, gems, and more gems.  My mother didn't understand it, and rather than try, she forbade me leaving to look for treasure, insisting that my sister needed me to look after her.  I ran away three times, and every time I came back I brought money from my escapades and stories that I told my siblings, despite Mom's orders not to.  After a while, she stopped caring when I left, and every time I came back, if I didn't bring money she didn't let me into the house."

            "That's terrible," Amy gasped, grabbing the soap from the edge of the tub and washing between her toes.

            "It only happened twice," Rouge shrugged.  "Anyway, after a while, I could locate jewels on a feeling, and it was this feeling that got me my job in the government.  The president was meeting his wife at the biggest hotel in New Orleans, and had just happened to have a gift for her."

            "Let me guess; he brought gems," Amy interrupted.  The bat smirked.

            "Diamond earrings.  HUGE diamond earrings, actually.  I was in the city with my sister selling her necklaces, when I saw his car.  I knew there were gems on board, so I tried chasing his limo down the street but decided that I'd need a vehicle to catch them.  I stole a motorcycle from some guy who hadn't bothered to lock it up and pulled ahead of them."  At this, the pink hedgehog quirked an eyebrow.

            "Stole a motorcycle?  It seems to me that you need to work on your morals, Miss Rouge." 

            "Cut the 'Miss' crap, Rose.  My name's Rouge and I need no respectful introduction.  Continuing on, I got ahead of the limousine and climbed the wall of a building in their path.  When the car passed by, I jumped down through the sunroof and landed right in Mr. President's lap.  He was, without a doubt, rather surprised."  A knock at the door interrupted the conversation.

            "I hope you two are decent, because we're coming in!"  The door flew open to reveal Sonic and Shadow dancing around like three year olds who really had to go to the bathroom.

            "SONIC!" Amy shouted, curling up and ducking further into the water.  Rouge shook her head and sat exactly as she had been.

            "What brings you two all the way down here?" the bat asked nonchalantly, crossing one leg over the other and giving them both a piercing stare.  Sonic stared directly at the floor and Shadow alternated between staring at the tiles and the treasure hunter.

            "We were on a r-run, and suddenly realized we needed to use the bathroom.  The men's room was too far away, so we came here.  I h-hope you don't m-mind," Sonic stuttered, glancing at the bat then back at the floor more quickly than he could run.  Rouge rolled her eyes.

            "Toilets are to your right.  Make it quick.  And work on that stutter blue boy."  Sonic ran off to the stalls quickly, while Shadow nodded his thanks and went on his way as well.  "This seems like a good time to hop outta here, don't you think so, Rose?"  Rouge climbed out of the tub and picked up Amy's pink towel.  She spread it out, back to the toilets, and wrapped it around the hedgehog as she got out.  The bat then retrieved her own towel and proceeded to tie it on.

            "Uh, thanks for the conversation, Miss Rouge," Amy said, looking shyly at her feet.  Rouge flashed her crooked smile.

            "No problem Rose.  And stop with the 'Miss' thing already."  Rouge left before Sonic and Shadow were done, and Amy followed close behind.

    Space Colony ARK:  Day 7, 10:30 A.M.—Diary of Amy Rose

            Dear Diary,

            There seems to be a never-ending supply of food in this place.  I almost got lost looking through the food storage this morning.  I don't really mind cooking for everyone; I actually like all of the complements they give me on the food.  Anyway, breakfast is done and cleaned up.  Tails helped me today before running off to the labs to work on some new something-or-another.  He's really started to act strangely.  He stays up late, barely eats anymore, and he never stops by to talk to me, or even Sonic!  I'm starting to worry about him, Diary.  Miss Rouge and I had a nice conversation during a bath yesterday.  She has a very interesting, if not a little depressing, past, but it doesn't seem to bother her any, so I won't let it bother me.  During the bath, Sonic and Shadow busted in on us to use the bathroom.  I thought I was going to die of embarrassment, but Miss Rouge just sat there, cool as a cucumber (does she have no shame?).  The encounter doesn't seem to have bothered Shadow _much_, but Sonic barely said anything to me today and he won't even look at Miss Rouge.  She (Rouge) doesn't seem to care at all about the whole thing, and just spends all of her time talking with Knuckles (about the Master Emerald, no doubt) or off by herself, wandering.  That brings me to an interesting point.  Knuckles doesn't seem to be doing very well.  He's used to being alone on an island nearly impossible for the normal person to find, and he's used to being outdoors.  All of the change seems to be taking a toll on him.  Not to mention the fact that he's very shy, and all of the attention he's getting from Rouge is just adding to his stress.  I should tell her to leave him alone for a while.  

            Moving on, I only see Dr. Eggman at meal times, which is just fine with me, so I don't know how he's doing right now.  I've spent most of my time in the kitchen or trying to get a moment alone with Sonic.  I haven't really had the chance, though, because he's spending all of his time with Shadow.  Tails is always off with the doctor (which worries me) and Knuckles is either wandering, in his room, or with Miss Rouge.  To top it off, something doesn't feel quite right up here. 

            I feel very alone.

    Space Colony ARK:  Day 9, 3:27 A.M.—Knuckles 

            There's something wrong here, Master Emerald.  I feel it in the air, in the walls, and in my feet when I leave my room.  Sonic says I just miss the outdoors, but I think that's a load of bull.  I go walking at night sometimes, just to be alone, and I hear things.  I hear Amy crying in her sleep, I hear Sonic shout in his, Tails' room is always silent along with Eggman's, Shadow sleeps deeply at night, and Rouge walks around in her room.  Occasionally she hears me and comes out to walk as well.  We don't talk much, but being able to travel the cold, empty halls with the sound of another's footsteps is comforting.  

            But back to the subject, things are changing in our little group.  Sonic spends all of his time with Shadow.  I normally wouldn't care, except that Tails now talks only with Eggman and the last thing I need is another evil genius that knows about the Master Emerald and where it's kept. And, Master Emerald, I think Amy Rose's mind is starting to go.  She spends all of her time in the kitchens, either cooking, exploring, or staring off into space.  Cabin fever? Lonely?

            I myself would prefer to be lonely, instead of spending so much time with that bat.  She's either in her room, bathing, or with me, and I don't like company much.  Truth be told, I don't trust her, Shadow, or Eggman.  The way they're separating all of us… pulling us away from each other, it seems a bit suspicious.  I can't say anything of this to Sonic, however, because in his opinion if I'm not busy being gullible then I'm being paranoid.  

            Wrong or not, I'll keep an eye on Rouge and follow my instincts if some situation does arise.  I just wish I could get the eerie feeling to leave me alone.

            Okay, that was a weird chapter… just to let you know, all of the things said by Amy and Rouge are purely fiction.  I don't have any real basis for any of it; so don't think of it as fact.  Next chapter, even more weird (and finally exciting) stuff happens… yay.


	3. Keep that laser cannon to yourself, budd...

Ah… another chapter.  Think it's stupid yet?  Did you think that from the beginning?  Do I wish I had milk for my cereal?  Yes, I do.

    Space Colony ARK:  Day 10, noon—Fly on the Wall

            "How's your part coming along?"  "Fine.  Better than expected, actually.  I figure my job will be finished within two or three days.  Yours?"  "Done."  "Excellent.  Do you suppose anyone suspects anything?"  "One of our fellows has been snooping around lately.  They _may _suspect something's up.  Do you anticipate a problem?"  "No.  Don't worry about anything, just stick to the plan.  I'll _take care _of our little snooper."  "What about the Master Emerald?"  "What about it?"  "Will you still need it?"  "I believe so, but don't trouble yourself, my friend.  I'll take care of everything."

    Outside Space Colony ARK:  Day 10, 2:30 p.m.—Journal of Sonic the Hedgehog

            Journal,

            I got bored at around lunchtime today so I went for a run outside the colony where it appears some sort of mining or construction had been taking place a long time ago.  I was completing my third lap around the large structure in the middle when I saw something sitting on one of the four steel vertical support beams at the top of the platform.  I, naturally, ran up to investigate and whom do you suppose I found?  Well, it was none other than the mysterious Rouge the Bat.  I also, naturally, stopped to chat.

            She watched me calmly from beneath her eyelashes as I sat down next to her and made myself comfortable.  I grinned a greeting and she responded with a crooked smile.

            "I was watching you run," she said, eyes wandering down to my legs, "and I must say I've never seen anyone faster."

            "They don't call me Sonic for nothing," I said proudly.  She grinned and nodded.  "What brings you out here?" I asked.  She gestured to an empty packet next to her.

            "I found a supply of frozen blood in the medical section of the colony- for transfusions and such- and I hadn't had a good drink in such a long time.  Unfortunately, Amy couldn't quite stomach watching me drink it, so I came up here," Rouge explained, crumpling up the packet (which still had drops of red inside) and tossing it into the pit of lava far beneath us.  "I wish people were more open minded about other peoples' tastes."  I, for some reason, felt the need to defend Amy.  So I did.

            "Hey, Amy's a good girl.  One of the sweetest I've ever known."  Rouge shook her head.

            "I wasn't trying to knock on 'er or anything, so calm down, lover boy," I chose to ignore that remark.  She continued, "So what brings _you_ out here?" 

            "I couldn't find Shadow," I shrugged, "and Tails said he was busy.  So I came for a run.  As far as why I came up here, I have a little secret."  The bat looked intrigued. "I have a weakness for beautiful women.  When I see them, I can't help but go talk to them."  Rouge laughed, putting a hand on her chest.

            "Why thank you."

            "Don't mention it.  Speaking of weaknesses, I wanted to talk to you about Knuckles."  

            "What do you mean?" she asked, tensing and sounding suspicious.

            "I know you have a thing for gems, Rouge.  And Knuckles has the biggest one around." I explained. 

            "I'm not following you, Sonic."

            "Look," I said, "Knuckles is having some problems right now.  He's starting to get jumpy from being locked up in this place for so long.  He's used to being outside, and-,"

            "What does this have to do with me?" she interrupted.

            "Knuckles is also really shy around girls, you know?  He hasn't met many of them, and I think you being around him so much is freaking him out, adding to his stress.  Understand?"  Rouge sat up straighter, threw back her shoulders and thrust out her chest, moving her hand to her forehead in a salute.

            "Perfectly, Mr. Hedgehog," she said in a mock respectful tone.  I laughed.

            "Mr. Hedgehog?  I can't recall being called that one before.  Did you learn that one in secret agent training?"  Rouge turned away with mock offense.

            "It's called common courtesy, Mr. Hedgehog.  And who let my cover slip this time?  That makes at least three people who know my real profession."

            "Shadow told me," I answered.

            "Then how did Amy find out?"

            "Well, um, I told her.  See, she was kind of ranting about not having any other girls to talk to, and I said 'Well what about Rouge?' and she said 'I prefer not to consort with people who've tried to kill me or have abandoned me to my death'.  I was a little confused, until I remembered her telling me that Eggman had been about to shoot her on Prison Island.  I told her that you'd been working for the Feds the whole time, and that I was sure you had a perfectly good reason for leaving her to die."

            "Real smooth, Hedgehog.  But yeah, she did bring that up during our bath the other night…" the treasure hunter muttered, looking off at the stars.  I didn't like the silence, so I decided to break it.

            "It, uh, sure is pretty out here," I babbled.  I don't know why that was the first thing that came to mind, but it got the conversation rolling again.

            "You're right," she smiled, leaning back on her arms, "I guess the stars can't get much clearer than this."  I nodded, and she tilted her head back and looked at the stars with her eyes half-lidded.  I was about to speak when I looked at her again and realized my mouth hadn't formed the words I had wanted to say.  The whole time I'd been talking to her I'd never really looked at her, but amidst the quiet… seeing her looking up at the stars like that, I suddenly felt very awkward.  I was used to being around cute girls; hell, I could almost never get away from Amy!  But that's just it, Amy's a _girl_, and Rouge seemed much more like… well, a _woman_. 

            Rouge seemed to sense my change in attitude (or she heard my heartbeat quicken… bats are supposed to have really good hearing, you know) and looked over at me curiously. "What's the matter, Sonic?  Are you feeling okay?"  I almost fell backwards into the lava pit beneath the platform as she leaned over me to feel my forehead.  As she checked my temperature I tried desperately to avoid checking her out (which was really hard with her boobs in my face).

            "Miss Rouge-" I choked into her chest, "I feel fine- really!  I just need some air-!"  Rouge blinked at me suspiciously but drew back nonetheless.

            "Are you sure you're alright, blue boy?  You looked kinda' pale for a second."  I nodded and took several deep breaths, looking up to see her face devoid of any concern and looking at the stars again.  I don't know what possessed me to say the next thing I did—I mean, I don't even like her like that!—but for some odd reason, I said it.

            "I don't suppose you ever date younger guys?"  I immediately clapped my hands over my mouth, wondering if I'd gone totally insane.  To my surprise, the bat laughed.

            "I don't suppose that you know my age, do you Sonic?" she asked teasingly, making me feel like a total idiot. When I shook my head, she winked.  "From what I've read about you, I figure I'm three days older than you are."  I never believed that peoples' jaws could actually drop before that moment… but I do now.

            "Well-" I said, panicked, stumbling over the words, "it was just a rhetorical question.  Nothing to do with me."  Rouge laughed and patted my head.

            "I see you have a quick tongue to go with your feet.  Nice cover up, blue boy."  She got up, stretched, and looked back down at me.  "I'll see you at dinner tonight."  And with a wink, she jumped off the edge and began to fly off toward the entrance to the colony.  I jumped to my feet, desperate to save my image I suppose, and shouted after her.

            "IT WASN'T A COVER UP!!!  I WAS ASKING FOR… KNUCKLES!  I ASKED FOR KNUCKLES!!"  Good God, there must be something wrong with me…

    Space Colony ARK:  Day 10, 3:00 p.m.—A transmission from Rouge the Bat to the President.

            "—And you're absolutely sure no one knows about this transmission?"

            "Positive, Sir.  I'm currently in an area no one but Knuckles the Echidna or Miles Prower could possibly reach without machinery, and I'd hear that a mile away."

            "…Just where are you, anyway?" 

            "On the ceiling of one of the docking bays in the eastern wing of the colony."  Sure enough, the three dimensional map of the colony the president's secretary pulled up on her laptop showed the purple dot that represented Rouge the Bat on the ceiling of the largest docking bay in the colony.

            "Alright Rouge, what have you got for me?"

            "What have _you _got for me is more the question I had in mind."  The President growled in frustration.

            "If you weren't the best in the business I wouldn't put up with this, Bat."

            "Yeah yeah, I know.  So, is my diamond ready for me when I get back?"

            "Everything's ready.  Now what's going on up there?"

            "Well, Shadow's alive, for one thing-"

            "WHAT?"

            "-And the rest of us are going stir crazy.  When can you get us out of here?"

            "Soon.  The military is only interested in collecting money for the damages suffered at the hands of Sonic's party and Eggman's… and apprehending the Doctor.  However, now that Shadow's back in the picture…"

            "Dammit!  I don't care what you do, just get me home!"

            "Don't crack under the pressure, Rouge.  You're my best agent and it would be a shame if I had to let you go."

            "Thanks for the compliment, Sir, but I'm afraid that if you lose me, it won't be from pressure."

            "Oh?"

            "Something's going on up here.  I don't know who's behind it because there are so many enemies and old rivalries and past wrongs that can be dug up.  And not even heroes are immune to anger or madness.  I have a feeling that something's going to happen very soon, and I don't—what was that?!"

            "Rouge what's going on?"

   Space Colony Ark: same time, same place—Fly on the wall.

            Rouge hung on the ceiling, ready to jump to the floor if necessary.  Whatever was coming, it was coming fast along the ground.  

            "What's happening up there?" the voice of the President sounded in her ear.

            "Shh…" she whispered into her headset, turning the volume down to almost nothing.  It was too dark in here for any on the others to see, and if it was someone coming after her, she certainly wasn't going to let them get a fix using the President's voice.  She closed her eyes, listening for the sound she heard a moment ago.

            "Rouge, _what's_ going on?" the President asked again.  The bat opened her eyes and stared in the direction of the doorway.

            "They're here," she breathed into the headset and moved her fingers to the switch.

            "Who's there?  Dammit Rouge, ta-."  The voice was silenced as she ended the transmission and switched off the headset.

            Her eyes followed the figure around the room as best they could in the dim lighting, losing it occasionally due to its speed.

            'Whatever that thing is,' she thought, 'it's too fast to be Amy or Eggman.  Its color is too dark to be Tails, unless it's wearing a suit, and I don't see any big tails.  So that leaves three…'  Faster than Rouge's eyes could follow in the dark the figure shot across the room and leapt at a wall.  Using the wall to jump up on a large piece of machinery it stopped and waited, apparently searching for something.

            'What are they doing?' the bat wondered.  'Are they looking for me?'  After a moment, a familiar sound hit Rouge, literally.  'They're using sonar!' she realized, 'But none of the others can use sonar naturally like I can… who _is _that?  Tails mentioned something about a small, full body mech, but that was still on the drawing board.'  The figure jerked to life once again and leapt onto a taller machine next to it, climbing ever higher until it was less than twenty feet from the ceiling.  Before the bat could react, the figure leapt the remaining distance between her and itself, claws extended.  It struck her just below her left shoulder, opening the soft skin on the left side of her chest with claws that felt like razors.  With a shriek, the treasure hunter fell from the ceiling.

            Recovering herself during the drop, Rouge spread her wings and managed a short glide to the wall.  Keeping her breathing soft and even to reduce noise, she removed one of her gloves with her teeth and gingerly felt the wound.  Bleeding badly, but not too deep, actually, which she found shocking.  It had been quite a blow, and, to top it off, the damn thing had _flown _at her!  From _twenty feet _below!  Tails was the only one who could naturally fly (aside from herself, of course), but she hadn't heard the telltale swish sound that accompanied his flights.

            Rouge heard the footsteps on the floor beneath her and leapt out from the wall with a kick.  Her attack hit the mystery assailant in the head just as they'd leapt up to finish what their first blow had not.  Flapping her wings furiously, the bat flew to the ceiling once more, confident that it was the safest place to be now that she knew what to expect.  Her blood, which had until then been running over her breasts and stomach, had changed directions and was running over her chin and down her face, where it fell and dripped onto the floor.  Using the glove she'd removed earlier, Rouge tied it around her shoulder and hoped that it would be sufficient to keep the blood from flowing.  With her wound cared for as well as she could manage at the moment, the bat searched for her assailant in the dark room.  Locating it, she once more dropped from the ceiling but this time glided soundlessly until she was directly above it.  With a vicious twist of her body she shot downwards feet first in a deadly spiral.  Rouge felt her feet connect with her target's head and heard a terrible crunch.  

            Landing back on the floor, she noticed, to her annoyance, that her glove had already been soaked through.  The bloodstains would never come out of the white material—

            Rouge jumped back in surprise as the figure before her leapt to its feet, miraculously able to move.  'How in are they still conscious?  Hell, _alive_?' she thought as the creature raised its arm. The bat had no time to react as the beam from its arm cannon pierced her body where her wound was.  Her legs gave out as one of the large machines somewhere behind her exploded, filling the room with light.  She would have seen her attacker standing over her if only she had had the strength to open her eyes.  Rouge fell onto her back, unconscious. 

    Space Colony ARK:  Same day, two minutes later—Fly on the Wall.

            Sonic and Amy raced down the twisting halls of the ARK's east wing, heading in the direction of the explosion.

            "What do you think that was, Sonic?"  Amy asked as they took another turn.

            "I have no idea, but we'd better hurry.  Someone may have been hurt.  Hey look, there's Shadow up ahead.  SHADOW!" Sonic called, grabbing Amy's arm and racing forward to catch up to the black hedgehog.

            "Shadow, do you know what happened?" Amy asked, arm still held in Sonic's hand.

            "Not a clue," he responded, "but I'm going to find out."  The three ran in silence for a moment until they reached the door at the end of the corridor.  Shadow blinked up at it.  "The docking bay?  Who would've been in here?" he wondered aloud as he entered the code to open the door.  

            The light in the room was blinding.  Large fluorescent lights hung from the ceiling, filling the room with their glow, which was almost too bright for the three hedgehogs.  

            "Knuckles!" Sonic called, seeing the echidna standing with his back to them in the middle of the room (holding some sort of tube in his hand) and racing toward him with Amy still in tow.  "What ha-" 

            Sonic's question was cut short by Amy's scream and the blue hero looked at the floor.  At Knuckles' feet lay Rouge the Bat in a pool of her own blood.  The top half of her suit lay in shreds over her torso, and a hole below her shoulder was spilling blood like a small fountain.  Her chest moved unevenly as her breathing became more ragged every second.  Without a second thought, Sonic attacked his friend until he was unconscious.

            "Shadow," he called, "go get Tails and Eggman and have them to bring something to carry her out on.  And see if Eggman can work up some sort of holding cell until we figure out just what happened."  Amy knelt beside the bat's comatose body and began trying to staunch the blood flow by piling strips of cloth from her ruined body suit on the wound.

            "Sonic," Amy whispered, biting her lip to keep her tears back, "I can't stop the bleeding.  It keeps squirting out from under my hand."  The blue hedgehog sat beside her and put an arm around her, placing his other hand on hers and helping apply pressure to the wound on the bat's bloody chest.  They sat in silence for a few moments until Amy finally lost it and began to sob uncontrollably.  

            As Sonic rubbed her back soothingly and looked at Rouge's blood covered body and the red liquid that his and Amy's combined strength couldn't keep from oozing out, he realized that things were getting serious.  They couldn't stay on the ARK any longer, or they'd be risking not only their sanity, but also their lives.

            "We've got to get out of here…"

            Okay, so there's another chapter, and there'll be even more stuff next time!  Like more chats between our mysterious villains, Tails' first journal entry, a little more Omochao, and that's just the beginning!  Keep reading, and if you have any questions on the story, e-mail me or ask it in a review and I'll get back to you.  Bye! 


	4. Ooh, suspenseful!

            Hello, faithful readers, and welcome back to another chapter of "Knuckles' ARK".  When we last left our heroes- uh, villains- er… WHOEVER it was, Rouge was bleeding to death, Amy was having a mental breakdown, Sonic was (for once) deep in thought, Shadow was running an errand, Tails and Eggman were, presumably, working, and Knuckles was busy looking guilty at the scene of the attack.  Expect more action, suspense, and mystery (well, at least the reasonable facsimile of mystery I have in my story) in this chapter.  Pay close attention to the times before each excerpt too, because they're really important in this chapter and don't all go in order.  Also, I'd like to announce a **CONTEST**!  If any of my few readers can solve the mystery of what's going on (or get close.  I haven't revealed many big clues yet that'll come in later… so you may want to wait as long as fifth chapter…) two of you'll get to make a guest appearance in the last chapter!  Make your guess in a review, and if you're right I'll send you an e-mail.  But it has to be kept SECRET!!  Finally, there is a bit of a language warning for this chapter, but it does serve a purpose, and no seriously naughty words are said.  Okay, go read!__

    Space Colony ARK:  Day 11, 2:00 A.M.—Fly on the Wall

            "Where is she?" "In the medical area.  Her wound is quite serious."  "Why didn't you make sure he finished her off?"  "I'm the one who said he couldn't be trusted to do this in the first place, remember?"  "So you didn't intervene because I didn't let you kill her?"  "No.  I just didn't like your choice of assassin.  Why would I want to kill her?"  "Well, you-"  "Never mind.  What about the Master Emerald?"  "Why do you have such an obsession with the Master Emerald, anyhow?"  "I don't.  I just want everything to go well, and why not have a little insurance?"  "Very well.  I'll get the emerald, but you'll need to do me a favor."  "Sure."  "Go to the medical area and take care of Rouge."

  "How do you expect me to do that?  Surely somebody's there."  "Just tell whoever's on duty to get some sleep and that you'll watch her for awhile."  "And how do you suppose I finish her, hm?"  "Take her to the manufacturing level of the ARK and blow one of the hatches.  She'll get sucked out into space and there'll be no evidence left.  Simple as that."  "So says you.  What if whoever's there won't let me take over the watch?"  "Tell them I sent you."

    Space Colony ARK:  Day 11, 2: 30 A.M.—Journal of Miles Prower

            Journal,

The Doctor and I had been in the lab when Shadow brought us the news.  On the way to the docking bay he told us what happened to her.  The wounds sounded serious… nearly untreatable. 

            Ten minutes later found me assisting Dr. Eggman in the medical area.  Had she lost any more blood, we probably wouldn't have been able to help any.  But Miss Rouge is stable now, and sleeping.  Sonic has first watch.

             On another note, our full-body mech seems to have been misplaced.  We found it on level C of the ARK shortly after Rouge was attacked.  There's no sign of fingerprints. 

            Forgive me for not quite sounding myself, journal.  I'm afraid I'm just a little shocked, is all.  I had to clean out the wound, you see.  It pierced clear through her shoulder.  I'd rather not think about it.  And now that Rouge's old suit is ruined (the top is completely shredded.  The cause was presumably flying shrapnel from the explosion that led everyone there… or her attacker.  But I don't think he'd do that) Eggman is busy designing her a new "space suit".  Confidentially, it didn't look like any space suit I've ever seen.  It looked more like one of those pictures the Doctor showed me of the girls with the bull whips and spiked heels.  I think he called them "bondage" suits, or something.

            As I said before, our small prototype of the full body mech was stolen this morning.  We found it dumped near the kitchen on level C, a short distance from the docking bay.  We already know who took it—we being Dr. Eggman and I—no one else has the same color fur as she does.

            Finally, Knuckles is being held in the control room with Omochao until we figure out what he was doing there.

            I have to go now, journal.  Eggman wants me to go take my watch.

    Space Colony ARK: Day 11, 1:45 A.M.—Fly on the Wall

            The echidna sat against the smooth, curved edge of the thick glass tube he was currently being held in.  Every few minutes he got to his feet and attempted to break through the glass, but to no avail.  He looked longingly over to the control panel where his hammer gloves were resting.

            "Dammit!" he exclaimed, smashing his fists together.  "I have to get out of here!  I've got to get to the Master Emerald."  He glanced down at the Omochao that was sitting quietly on the floor.  He glared at it.  "Here's your chance to be useful, you piece of junk!  Why don't you help out by telling me how to get outta here?"  He kicked the robot and it bounced off of the wall and into the air.

            "Hi, I'm Omochao!" It greeted.  Knuckles sank back to the floor with a groan.

            "Yes, I know who you are, you—" his choice words were lost in the clicks and whirs the robotic chao made as he flew.

            "To get out of the escape pod, push the small, red button on the inside of the steel cap," the Omochao advised as it shut down and dropped to the floor.  Knuckles head snapped up. 

            "What?" he asked, jumping again to his feet.  The robot remained silent.

            Looking up, the echidna saw the button.  '_But how do I reach it?_' he wondered, attempting a few jumps toward it.  He stopped to think, and looked at the Omochao again.  He grinned.  '_Perfect…_'  Knuckles reached down and grasped the robot around its middle.

            "Hey, stop it!  Let me go!" It ordered as he took aim.  Drawing his arm back, the echidna hurled the Omochao at the button.  The glass wall shot up and Knuckles dove through just before it slammed back down again.  He retrieved his gear from the control panel and ran toward the door.  In the tube, the little blue robot began to bash into the walls, shrieking something about ten animals.

            "Sorry, " Knuckles called as he ran out the door, "but I've got somewhere I need to be!"

    Space Colony ARK:  Day 11, 2:45 AM—Diary of Amy Rose

            Dear Diary,

            We're not gonna make it… I've checked the cards.  One of us is going to die up here… and the rest are g-

            NO!  NO NO NO!  I won't let it end this way!  I'll change everything!  Rouge'll be all right, Tails said so.  Knuckles has been contained.  Sonic and Shadow are… I don't know what they're doing.  I'm sitting in here with Miss Rouge… watching the monitors.  I know that she really wouldn't care if the guys looked after her, regardless of her bare chest that was currently clad only in medical gauze and a sheet.  She's weird like that.  Hey, a machine just beeped!  She's hooked up to a lot of machines right now.  If I were to pull out just _one _wire…

            No, I can't give in this way.  I need something to do or I'll go nuts.  Maybe that's what my fate is.  I kill Rouge… pull one wire… just watch her breathing slowly stop… yeah.  Maybe my purpose is to get everyone motivated to get out of here.  I was always so good at motivating people.  I could get them all going right now by pulling out that needle there… and that wire over there…  

    Space Colony ARK: Day 11, 2:47 AM—Fly on the Wall

            "AMY!" two voices yelled, their owners bursting into the room.  Amy looked up at them; face tear streaked, and held out the needle and wire to the smaller one.

            "I didn't mean to do it, Tails," she whispered, "I don't know what was going through my head… I-I-"

            "It's alright, Amy," the little fox soothed the upset girl while reattaching the wire and pushing the needle back into the bat's arm.  "See?  No harm done."

            "B-but if you two had come an instant later-."  Shadow, who had come in with Tails, laid a hand on the girl's shoulder.

            "Being stuck up here too long has gotten to your head, girl.  Miles will take you back to your own room to rest for awhile."  Tails snapped his head around.

            "No.  I was sent by Dr. Eggman to watch Rouge.  I know more what I'm doing than you do, Shadow."

            "But Sonic sent me to take care of her, boy.  He said he didn't want you up all night.  Children need their sleep."  

            "Don't talk to me that way, you-"

            "Stop it, both of you!" Amy cut in, "I can walk back to my room perfectly fine on my own."  She got shakily to her feet and started walking from the room.  Tails turned away from the door and sat in the chair the pink hedgehog had been occupying. 

            "Shadow, just-" he stopped as he saw something on the floor.  He lifted the piece of paper and looked at it.  "A tarot card?  Is this why she's so upset?"  The two exchanged glances before running out of the room after the upset girl, determined to find out what the cards had said.  Unbeknownst to them, a figure lurked in the shadows.  Once it was sure they were gone, it snuck into the unguarded medical room.

    Unknown: ???

            "Bitch!" her mother spat as she backhanded her.  The girl fell to the floor, blood running down her smooth cheek from the cut made by her mother's ring.  "Useless little trollop!  Running off in the dead of night, abandoning your family to go out on one of your 'treasure hunts'.  Probably already slept with every man in the country!  Don't look at me so shocked, I know what you've been doing!"  Kohl ranted, throwing one long, black braid back behind her shoulder.

            "For God's sake, why are you acting like this?  I brought you money this time!" Rouge shot back, getting up and planting her feet firmly.  Her mother rolled her eyes.

            "A decent treasure hunter should be able to bring back more than three-hundred dollars, little girl.  You didn't make this with any old artifacts or gems.  This is whore's money!  I can smell it."

            "And I can smell the liquor from over here.  You're drunk.  Go to bed and we'll talk again in the morning."

            "Little slut thinks she can tell her own mother what to do.  How on earth did I raise such a horrible child?"  Kohl muttered to herself before speaking to her daughter again.  "It must have been your father's influence.  You're a filthy bloodsucker just like he was.  That's probably what happened to all of your on the road lovers, eh girl?  You drank 'em dry and stole their cash.  I should turn you in for murder."  The girl had had enough.  She stomped over to her mother and lifted her off the ground.

            "I'm not speaking with you again until you're sober, old woman.  Go to bed!"  

            "MURDER!" Kohl shrieked as the white bat tossed her onto the pallet that served as her bed.  "MY WHORING DAUGHTER IS TRYING TO KILL ME!  HELP!  HELP! POLICE!"  Rouge shut the door against her mother's screaming and leaned her head against it.  If she'd known Kohl was going to be drunk, she'd have stayed in a hotel and come home in the morning.  When her mother was sober she wasn't so hard to deal with; all one had to do was give her a little money (no matter _how_ it was acquired) and play nicely with Mascara.  But when she was sauced-

            "Rouge!" a voice called, accompanied by strong hands shaking her shoulders.  "Rouge, wake up!"  It was then that the bat realized that that voice wasn't from her memory.

    Space Colony ARK:  Day 11, 2:48 AM—Oration to the Master Emerald

            She woke up quickly enough, Master Emerald.  Which was all the better.  I didn't know how much time I'd have.  It wouldn't take long for Shadow and Tails to realize that they'd left Rouge alone, and only slightly longer for Eggman to realize that I was no longer in the capsule.  In other words, my time was short, and I had to work fast if I was to fulfill my orders. 

            The bat blinked a few times before her eyes focused on me.  She tried to sit up, but fell back onto the hospital bed with a gasp.  She glanced down at the bandages covering her left shoulder and winding down around her middle. 

            "So…" she muttered, "it wasn't a dream."  I snorted.

            "Most certainly not."  She glanced back up at me, apparently having forgotten I was there.

            "What are you doing here, treasure hunter?  Keeping watch?"  With her uninjured arm she ran her surprisingly small fingers through her fur, and I noticed that it was damp with sweat, as was the rest of her revealed torso.  Had she been dreaming?

            "No," I replied, "I'm the main suspect."  I gave her my most malicious grin before grabbing at her bandages.

            "What do you think you're doing?  You had better pray that you're just changing the bandages if you don't want your testicles kicked into the roof of your mouth!" she shouted angrily, but suddenly blinked at me, puzzled.  "Wait a second, did you just say that everyone thinks you did it?"

            "Hn," I nodded, finishing taking off the gauze and grimacing slightly at the wound.

            "Well, it couldn't be you," she proclaimed.

            "Why?"

            "I drilled directly onto the bastard's head from over 30 meters above.  You would have to at least have a fractured skull or something." She winced as I lifted her arm to unwind the rest of the dressings.  "So, what are you doing here anyway?"

            "Helping," I replied, pulling off the last bandage and immediately focusing on her face.  "I'm going to take you somewhere safe until I can figure out who did this."  She looked at me thoughtfully.

            "Well then, you should've left the bandages alone.  If I move my arm any more I'm pretty sure the wound'll reopen."  Heh, as if I didn't know what I was doing.

            "Don't worry, I've got everything under control."  It was then that I brought you out, if you don't remember.  "I can use the Master Emerald to heal you."

            Well, I'd been pretty sure I could heal her.  I'd never actually used you for that purpose, but the shrine of the Master Emerald had writings that led me to believe that I could.  

            "I'm open to just about any suggestions right now," Rouge said, voice momentarily shaking as your cool surface lighted on her near feverish flesh.  "Just tell me one thing; where are you going to hide me?"

            "The place no one will think to look for you," I said, feeling the power well up in my fingers through my thick gloves and pass into her, closing the wound with remarkable speed.  "The manufacturing level."

            Behind me the door shot open, revealing Tails and Shadow.

            "Oh shit."

            Okay, there's chapter four.  It would've been out earlier, but school just started and I'm working my first job and cleaning a lot…. Ick.  I may have to start updating once a week, but I will keep working.  Remember, you can start submitting entrances to my contest, but you only get to enter once, and I won't accept an answer without an e-mail address.  I don't care if you don't sign in, but you _must _include your e-mail.  I can't wait to hear who my few readers think is the true villain!  Anyway, I'll talk to you guys next update, until then, any reviews I get will only make me work faster!  Love ya!


	5. What? Another problem?

            Dammit, that's the last time I set a date on **anything**!!  The video card on my computer died and I've been unable to type… until now!  Ha ha!  Too many school projects… not to mention the musical, but I don't care.  Everything turns out all right in the end.  Anyhow, here I am, and I must say it's good to be back.  On the contest grounds:  a couple of partially right answers, and it was fun to see who everyone thinks our villains are.  Very interesting… anyhow, enough babble, on with the tale!

Knuckles' ARK

    Space Colony ARK:  Day 11, 10:30 A.M.—Journal of Shadow the Hedgehog 

            Journal,

            Knuckles escaped, but we're not quite sure how.  We caught him in the medical area with Rouge, and it was a good thing too.  He was about to take her off and do God knows what, then we'd never be able to find her and we'd have even more problems to deal with.   Like Amy.  Girl gets crazier every day.

            At any rate, Knuckles is now back in his own cell, Tails has taken custody of the Master Emerald, and I'm with Dr. Eggman trying to figure out why the hell Rouge isn't close to dying.

            "—But you had a hole through your shoulder the diameter of a tennis ball!  Where the hell did it go?  It can't just disappear!"

            "Do you think I don't know that?  Besides, I already told you; he used the Master Emerald to heal me."  They're getting along rather well today, don't you think?

            "Impossible.  There's no way that it holds that kind of power, I'd have known about it."

            "You don't know everything!"

            "Hey!" I interrupted, "We're here to do a job, doctor, so let's get busy."  By job, I meant an examination.  We had to make sure she was in good health before allowing her to run off and nearly get killed again.  

            Dr. Eggman did the testing while I recorded; her reflexes were good, eyes were dilating fine, and there wasn't a sign that the wound had even been there.  We only had problems when it came to listening to her heartbeat.  She had been quiet and cooperative the whole time until the doctor pressed the stethoscope on her bare flesh.  Then there was trouble.

            "EEEEEYAAAAAAAH!  What are you doing??!!" she shrieked, leaping back from him to the end of the examination table.  He stared at her for a moment before glaring.

            "Come back over here, I'm almost done with your examination, just this one last thing.  I have work to do, you know."  Yeah, work like rigging up new cameras in her room. 

            "No," she stated, crossing her arms.  "I'm cold enough already!  Did you soak that thing in ice water as a means of torture or something?"  Doctor Eggman rolled up his sleeve and tested the metal instrument on his arm.

            "It can't be that cold, Rouge.  Suck it up," I said, walking toward the table where she sat, glaring at us both.  Doctor Eggman spoke up.

"No, she's right, Shadow.  It _is _freezing.  If you don't mind, I'll just use my ear."  All at once, her frown lifted into a crooked smile as she leaned forward.

            "You'd really enjoy that, wouldn't you, Doctor?" she mocked.  "I'd get defensive, but right now I'd really like to get out of here and get some new clothes on."  I swear the old man must have planned that.  I tested the stethoscope myself, and it felt as if it had been in a freezer.  Why did all old men seem so… perverted?

            "As long as you don't mind…" he grinned.  I couldn't watch this; it was just too sick.  I jumped in between them.

            "I'll do it, Doctor.  My hearing's much better than yours."  Eggman, looking slightly angry, walked back to the counter for the clipboard as I glared at the bat.  "What do you think you're doing?" I hissed.

            "I don't know what you're talking about," she smirked, "I just want a shirt, that's all.  It _is _really cold in here, you know."  Yeah, but it wasn't _that _cold.  She was plotting something.

            "What are you up to, Rouge?" I asked as the Doctor approached.  "You wouldn't let that disgusting old man near you without a purpose."  Her smile widened.

            "But it's different for you, Shadow?  According to what you've told me, you're just as old as he is.  So what's the big deal?  Anything you want to tell me?"  So _that_ was her game, was it?  Looking for information… or was she just trying to bother me?  Well, she did.  Why was I doing this, anyway?  I didn't feel any want or need to shove my face into her chest under the excuse of 'listening to her heartbeat'... did I?  And she was right; I _am _just as old as Doctor Eggman!  What the hell was I doing?

            "Alright Shadow, let's finish this.  Then we can get Rouge suited up and go about our own business."

            "Yeah, Shadow." She sat up straighter.  "Hurry up, I'm freezing."  And she was; there were goose bumps all over her skin and her body trembled slightly.  "Well?"

            Anyway, there isn't much more to tell.  I did it, we got her the clothes Eggman designed for her, and I left to take care of some business I'd left unfinished.  In fact, I'm still not quite done, so I think I'll go work on that…

            Y'know something?  I'm glad she didn't die…

            Space Colony ARK:  Day 11, 11:00 A.M.—Fly on the wall

            "MISS ROUGE!  YOU'RE ALRIGHT!"  Amy yelled, throwing herself at the older girl. 

            "Of course I am!  You don't think a little thing like a laser cannon can keep me down for long, do you?" the bat smiled.

            "If I did, I don't anymore!  It's so good to see you're not hurt."

            "Well, thank you.  Any new information on the attack come to light?"

            "No, but Sonic has been going nuts over the whole thing!  He's determined to find out who did it.  Oh Miss Rouge, who do you think it could've been?"

            "I wish I could say, but I thought I was on pretty good terms with everyone, so I'm baffled."  This was a blatant lie; a blatant lie that the hedgehog didn't catch.

            "I'm so scared now, Miss Rouge!"

            "Everything'll be fine, Amy, don't worry about it; I'm not."  The younger girl sighed.

            "I wish I had your confidence, Rouge.  I don't know whom to trust anymore.  Everyone's a suspect."

            "I hope I'm not interrupting something?"  Both turned to see the silhouette of Tails standing in the doorway.

            "Tails!  No, no, everything's fine!  Come sit with us," Amy called, gesturing the little fox over.  He approached the table, but didn't sit.

            "I'm afraid I don't have the time for that right now.  I just wanted to get a fur sample from both of you," he answered, pulling out two plastic bags and a forceps. 

            "Fur?  Whatever for, Tails?"  The boy looked sharply at Rouge, attempting to figure out if she was serious or not.

            "Someone stole the full body mech Dr. Eggman and I were working on.  We think that the attacker might have used that.  They left behind a few strands of white fur inside, and we're getting a sample from everyone with any white.  So if you two don't mind…"

            "Not at all!"  Rouge beamed, once again with a mocking tone.  She stood and allowed the fox to pluck a few hairs off of her head.  Amy was slightly more hesitant, but plucked a few hairs from her belly just the same.

            "Thanks again, girls.  Oh, and Rouge," he smiled, "Do you like your new suit?"  Amy looked at the bat as if she'd just realized that she wasn't wearing her customary attire.  She was instead outfitted in a two-piece outfit with a white, bikini-like top attached to a zipped up leathery piece that went to just below her ribs.  The shorts were so small that they almost couldn't be considered as such, and the whole thing was topped off with matching gloves and boots.

            "Wow…" Amy breathed.  Rouge smiled.

            "Yes, it's wonderful.  Did you help the doctor design it?"

            "No; the design was all his idea.  But I made it!" the boy stated proudly.

            "Well, thank you very much, and give my thanks to the old man, okay?"

            "Will do!  Catch you two later!"  And with that, the boy was gone.  Amy shuddered.

            "What's wrong, Rose?" the bat asked.

            "There's something… different about Tails.  He's completely changed since before we were all stuck up here," the hedgehog answered, biting her lower lip anxiously.  Rouge patted her back.

            "You're being paranoid, sweetie.  Tails is just preoccupied with other things, that's all.  He'll be back to normal once we get back to the planet.  Don't you worry."  Another lie, but this time it was caught.

            "…You don't believe a word you just said, do you?" Amy asked with wide eyes.  

            An explosion rocked through the colony, cutting off their conversation.

    Space Colony ARK:  Day 11, 11:00 a.m.—Journal of Dr. Eggman

            More problems now.  Somebody's blown one of the generators.  Luckily it wasn't the main one, but it did control the power on levels A, B and C, as well as the ventilation and heating ducts for those levels.  I was blamed, naturally.

            "What the hell did you do this time, Eggman?"  Sonic screeched at me from his position in front of the broken machine.  It was already starting to get cold.

            "I didn't do this!  I'm the one who stands to suffer most from it!" I countered.  Tails stepped forward.

            "He's right, Sonic.  Without the power to our labs, we can't continue working on our projects!  And he's more likely to freeze to death than anyone else here."  The hedgehog gritted his teeth and turned his back.

            "If not him, then who?" he asked, to no one in particular.

            "This doesn't make any sense," Rouge muttered from her position near Amy.  Amy… yes, there's something I must speak to her about.

            "You're damn right," I agreed.  "Who here has the motive to possibly want to cut the power to three of the levels?"  Rouge's head snapped up.

            "Does the main control room get power from this generator?" she asked.  There was a pause.

            "KNUCKLES!" Shadow shouted, and everyone followed him out of the room.  

            Alone, I walked around the sabotaged generator and studied the marks on it.  They could only have been made by one type of creature, but… what was the motive?  Ah well, I decided to find out after I asked Amy what she'd been doing with our new mech.   Speaking of which, I'll go do that now.

    Space Colony ARK:  11:10 a.m.—Omochao

            My cellmate looked up as the others entered the room.  He'd been trying for nearly an hour to open the cell from the outside because he promised me he'd let me out once he was sure it was going to be clear for a while?  Anyway, the blue guy walked over and stood in front of him.

            "Why'd you blow the generator, Knuckles?" he asked.  Knuckles swallowed hesitantly.

            "I didn't.  I heard the explosion and broke out of the cell again, but- wait, a generator?!"

            "Don't play stupid, echidna.  It was obviously you.  Everyone else was accounted for at the time," a black hedgehog said, coming up on the other side of him.  "You cut the power so you could escape."

            "If I did that, why would I still be here?"

            "You said you were gonna let me out, remember?" I piped up.  Knuckles stared at me with a mixture of shock and anger.

            "And was the echidna gone at all before this?" the black hedgehog asked me.  

            "Yes, he said he had something he had to do that would help us," I answered, always ready to help.

            "There you have it, ladies and gentlemen."  The black hedgehog grabbed Knuckles by the arm.

            "I saw what you did, Shadow," Knuckles hissed, shocking the black hedgehog. While he was speechless, Knuckles punched him in the chest, which sent him flying several feet away into a wall.  Did I tell you Knuckles is one of the strongest guys in the world?

            "Shadow!" the blue guy yelled, running over to inspect his friend for any serious injuries.  Knuckles, meanwhile, looked about ready to run for it when a pretty bat pressed him up against the holding tank.

            "What are you doing?" she hissed at him.  He leaned toward her as best he could.

            "You don't think I did this, Rouge!"

            "I don't, but all the evidence points at you."

            "Well get off, because I'm not going to let them lock me up again!"  With that, he pushed her away and ran from the room, disappearing into the dark hallway.  The blue guy stood to go after him, but the pretty bat grabbed his arm.

            "Let him go, Sonic.  It isn't safe for you to follow him in the dark."  He looked at her.

            "Will you follow him, then?  I wouldn't trust him alone with you, especially in that getup."  She laughed.

            "Thanks for your concern, but I'm not worried because I'm not going after him either.  I do, however, think that we need to get Shadow conscious again." She jerked her thumb in the direction of the unconscious black hedgehog.

            "Good idea.  Care to help me?"

            "Sure."  The two of them, carrying Shadow between them, left down the dark hall.  Leaving the fox and the hedgehog girl.

            "Amy?"

            "Yes?"

            "Doctor Eggman needs to ask you some questions right away."

            "Um… okay."

            They left, too.  And they took the only light.  Now it's dark…and I'm alone.  I don't like the dark… 

    Space Colony ARK:  Day 11, 11:45 a.m.—Fly on the wall

            "What the hell are you up to?"  "Excuse me?"  "You know what I'm talking about!"  "All right, fine.  How did you know it was me?"  "By looking at the evidence you left.  It really wasn't that hard.  Do you have any idea what will happen if people find out it was you?"  "Yes; they'll think I'm the attacker and maybe we can all get out of here."  "But it wasn't you!"  "How do you know that?"  "I have my ways."  "Well, don't worry about me.  I know what I'm doing."  "I certainly hope so."

    Space Colony ARK:  Day 11, 2:00 p.m.—Journal of Rouge the Bat

            I know what's going on!  I know who attacked me, but I don't know what to do.  I don't think I can hold off more than one of them, and if I'm right, I definitely don't have the strength or the skill to hold off _him_.  I don't know whom I can tell… or if they'll believe me.  They've all gotten into such tight-knit little groups…  The only loners are Knuckles and Amy, but I can't be sure who they're with, and it isn't safe to tell them.  If I confide in the wrong person, I'm as good as dead.

            In other news, we're all stuck on the manufacturing level because it still has heat and light.  A, B and C are all frozen through by now, and the Doctor has them sealed off.  Now we all sleep in the same room, and use the same bathroom… it's horrible.  Reminds me of that job in India a few years back, only here nobody's even tried to cop a feel.

            I can't find Knuckles.  I've looked for him all over.  I just hope he's not in any of the frozen levels…  Speaking of Knuckles, the Master Emerald is gone!  Tails ran around shrieking about it for almost ten minutes before Sonic told him it was all right, and they didn't need it anyway, or something like that.  

            …God, I'm so cold.  I have to share a sleeping bag with Rose now because we're short on blankets.  Unfortunately, it isn't time for bed yet, and my suit only covers so much skin.  I think I'll go for a run… get my blood running.  I'll write later if I'm still alive.

                                                                                                Rouge

            Okay… that's it for now.  Rouge has it solved, do you?  Don't forget to send your answer to make the cameo.  I'll try to get the next one out soon.  We're almost done here.  (And don't review with just guesses… I'll take any hints or tips anyone has to offer.  They'd be appreciated… or you could just tell me you liked the chapter… or you could ignore my pathetic condition and have a lovely day.  That one sounds good, don't you think?)  Anyway, see you all next update.   

                                                                                                            --Esly~.^


	6. Prelude to a dramatic showdown!

            Okay… Last chapter before the end… YAY!  Anyhow, last chance for a guess.  I forgot to mention that if you don't want to put your guess in a review to stare all fanfic readers in the face for the rest of eternity, you can e-mail it to me at eagibbs@attbi.com .  Mmmyeahmmm.  Anyhow, on with the show!   

    Outside Space Colony ARK:  Day 13, 5:00 p.m.—Fly on the Wall

            The echidna gasped as his head broke the surface of the dirt.  In an attempt to hide from the others, he'd left the inside of the colony and went to the outside storage meteor where he'd fought with Rouge and buried himself in the ground.  Not exactly a comfortable place to rest, but it served his purpose.

            Knuckles raised his arms and stretched, ignoring the rumbling in his stomach.  He had to get out of here.  The safety of the Master Emerald depended upon it!  Well, he and the others counted for something, he supposed. 

            He sighed; this wasn't going to work.  He couldn't solve this on his own because he had neither the brain nor the talent for such work.  Also, the fact that he hadn't the slightest clue what had been going on lately somewhat dampened his spirits. 'That's what you get for alienating yourself from everyone,' he mentally chided.  His thoughts quickly took a different turn.  Who could he trust?  His only ally had deserted him, and though he was fairly certain he could go back to Amy or Tails if he needed to, he wasn't sure when he could get them alone, and had no idea where they were at.  Rouge was an option, as was Sonic, but there was something about the two lately that he couldn't bring himself to trust.  And nothing, NOTHING, could make him go to Shadow or Eggman on this.

            He let his head droop and pounded a fist angrily on the ground.  What could he DO??  He'd have to talk to someone, he decided.  But who?

            A tell-tale whirring sound brought Knuckles to attention.  He looked to the sky to see a familiar shape flying toward him.  Knuckles grinned and knocked his fists together, as the boy shot toward him at an amazing speed.  

            "TAILS!" he called, shocked when the fox abruptly turned and flew the other way.  Not to be ignored, the echidna grabbed a large boulder and hurled it with perfect aim.  The stone caught Tails by surprise, and the boy fell from the air.  Knuckles grinned and ran to intercept his old friend.

    Space Colony ARK:  Day 13, 11:00 p.m.—Journal of Doctor Eggman

            Things are continuing to go downhill.  After the generators were sabotaged (and when I find out who did it I'll make them pay!) we all had to move onto the manufacturing level where there are no bedrooms, one small food supply, and one bathroom that we've been able to locate.  I hope that whoever designed this damn colony to have the power to the two living levels on the same generator died a horrible death!  …Actually, he probably did.  Oh well, served him right.

            I've been working on the generators with the help of Tails and Amy (who basically hands around tools and drinks in between times of staring wide-eyed at nothing.  Poor, insane girl), but it's slow going.  Tails can reach everywhere, but has had very limited experience with large generators, and I'm too heavy for him to carry, so I have to talk him through most of it.

            Shadow's been drifting away from us- slowly, maybe, but drifting- and I'm starting to get worried.  He owes his existence to me, after all, and yet the respect he gives me borders on insolence!  If he weren't so essential to—

            Sonic has spent most of his time looking for Knuckles.  He seems very calm considering the dangerous position we're all in, and I'm wondering if it was he who smashed up the generator…

            Rouge has been busy being looking for Knuckles as well, but not with Sonic.  She maintains that she works better alone, and I'm inclined to agree.  With that suit I made her, Sonic would be too busy staring to get any serious search time in.  Ah, I just love watching the lack of control young people have.

            It's about time for Tails to be getting back with that full-body mech so that we can go back onto the frozen levels and recover more things from the lab.  I can't wait.  So that means that, for now, this is Eggman, signing off.

    Space Colony ARK:  Day 14, 6:00 a.m.—Amy Rose's Diary

            We're never going to get out of here we're going to die oh god help me Im so scared where did everybody go did they escape already did they leave me behind sonic wouldn't leave me sonic loves me and I love him and tails is my friend he'd never leave without me and rouge would remind someone and knuckles would notice if I was gone unless they left me on purpose but sonic is my friend he wouldn't just leave me here I don't think he would where is everyone god Im so scared I want someone to come find me it's cold wheres rouge she said she'd come talk to me I'm so lonely what was that I think I just heard something where is everyone oh god Im so scared Im so scared Im so scared i'm so scared

    Space Colony ARK:  Day 14, 6:10 a.m.—Fly on the Wall

            Rouge wandered the halls aimlessly, searching for Knuckles.  She was certain he didn't knock out the power, but if he didn't, who did?  Her mind roved over the facts once more.  _'I was with Amy and Tails, Eggman was with Shadow about a minute before it happened, Sonic was… wait a minute!' _Rouge stopped dead in her tracks. 

            '_Where's the Master Emerald?_

_            It's not important right now; we don't need it._'

            '_Amy?  Doctor Eggman needs to ask you some questions right away.'_

_            'I saw what you did, Shadow.'_

_            '…He said he had something he had to do that would help us.'_

            'I drilled directly onto the bastard's head from over 30 meters above.  You would have to at least have a fractured skull or something.'

            "Oh my God… why didn't I see this before?!  …Amy!  I've got to find Amy!"  As she ran off, she failed to notice the sound of footsteps behind her..

   Space Colony ARK:  Day 14, 6:11 a.m.—Fly on the Wall

            "You're back!  Where have you been.  We've been so worried."  "Yeah, whatever, I have something to tell you."  "And that is?"  "He knows.  I saw him.  Spoke to him.  I was outside the colony at the storage meteor, you know, where you told me to go if there was trouble, and he came along."  "What?!  What did you tell him?"  "Nothing!  He started asking me all these questions, and I didn't know how to respond, so I didn't say anything.  He's no idiot; he drew his own conclusions."   "We've got to get this under control!  Go back and-"  "Oh my God, where is it?!"  "What?"  "You know perfectly well what I'm talking about!"  "Oh, that.  Well I decided since everyone's alone, now was a good time to take care of Rouge, so I sent-"   "NO!  This is going to ruin everything!  You weren't supposed to do it now!  I haven't talked to her about the Master Emerald yet!"  "Oh… well, there's no way to reach him now.  I just hope she's as good a fighter as she says she is."  "For the sake of the plan, you'd better hope she is."

    Space Colony ARK:  Day 14, 6:15 a.m.—Fly on the Wall

            Sonic looked anxiously around the room, ready to dodge at the first possible moment.  Knuckles still hadn't been found, and now Tails had turned up missing.  Sonic had long since combed the storage meteor and about a fourth of Deck D, but to no avail.  The frozen levels were all out of the question.  Where else was there to look?  

            A noise made him spin around.  

            "Who-! Oh, it's just you, Rouge.  I've been looking for you."  The bat flung herself at the hedgehog.

            "Where's Amy?" she demanded, grabbing him by the shoulders.

            "Amy?  Uh, last I heard she was—"

            "SH!"  Rouge held up her hand, ears perked as high as they could go.  She cast her eyes around the room.

            "Y'know, I'm glad you're here.  It makes my job a whole lot easier."  He grinned.

            "What do you--?" She looked into his eyes and screamed.

Okay, that's the end of chapter six.  I'm sorry it took so long.  I hope to have the next one out soon.  Until then, mis amigos Buenos!!

                                                            Elsy~.^


	7. The End of All Things

            It's finally here.  That's right; the final chapter of "Knuckles' ARK" is done.  I was hoping to have it done by my 17th birthday (which was May 20th) but school got in the way.  Oops.  I wanted to thank everyone for the nice reviews and everyone who made guesses for the contest.  Especially all of you who've stuck with this story though the plot was lacking and the character representation definitely could've been better.  On a sad note, only one of the winners responded so we only have one cameo.  I'll fill the spot with something interesting, don't worry.  The winner'll be revealed at the end, so no looking ahead, okay?  Once again, thanks for reading, and enjoy the conclusion!

    Space Colony ARK:  Day 14, 6:16 a.m.—Shadow

            It's been released.  I was too late.  Again.  Always too late.  Too late to save Maria.  Too late to save the professor.  Too late to save the planet.  Too late to save Rouge.  Too late to save myself.

            We're going to burn.

    Space Colony ARK:  Day 14, 6:16 a.m.—Fly on the Wall

            It was dark.  Too dark to see.  Poor Amy Rose found that out the hard way as she walked back into the generator room with a tray of drinks.  Well, just ice water, really, but what did it matter?  She was helping.  She was being useful.  She was with others.

            Well, she _had been with others…  Where was everybody?  What happened to the lights?  Her thought process was interrupted as she tripped on a loose piece of the generator and fell over in the dark.  The glasses shattered as they fell off of the tray and collided with the hard floor, much like the bones in Amy's left arm as they collided with the hard machine parts._

            She rolled on her side in the scattered broken glass, staring into the darkness.  Her right arm clutched at the left as she lay, unmoving, on the cold floor.  It was too dark to see the tears on her face, and there wasn't anyone around to see them, anyway.  

            It felt like hours before anyone found her.  She was at first aware of the sound of footsteps.  She heard them approaching her before she noticed that the lights had been turned on.  Amy turned her head, looking to her rescuer.  She opened her mouth to thank him, but stopped abruptly.

            Her scream rang through the corridors. 

    Space Colony ARK:  Day 14, 6:16 a.m.—Fly on the Wall

            Sonic turned around as Rouge screamed, only to receive a hard kick to the face.  He flew back, crashing into the wall with a painful thud.  Rouge leapt into the air as their attacker rushed at her, missing the bat by inches.  He skidded to a halt.

            "It's- it's you!" Sonic gasped, climbing his feet.  Rouge flapped her way over to Sonic and landed quietly beside him.  The hedgehog spat.  "How did you get up here?"

            Metal Sonic stared silently back at them.

    Space Colony ARK:  Day 14, 6:16 a.m.—Knuckles 

            _Where the hell did Tails go?  He promised to meet me ten minutes ago!  Was it a mistake telling him I didn't have the Master Emerald?_

            The echidna shook his head irritably.  Where was everyone?  The colony may be huge, but with everyone staying on this one level, it shouldn't be so hard to find them.  _What if Tails got caught up fixing the generator and couldn't come meet me?  But that would mean that Eggman's there, too.   And possibly Shadow…  The two people Knuckles really didn't want to see.  He shook his head again.  Staying in this abandoned corridor wouldn't do him or anyone else any good.  If Tails was right, Sonic would put his plan into effect very soon.  He had to be there to stop his longtime rival.  _

            The echidna arrived at the generator room a few moments later, approaching the door cautiously.  He listened at it first, surprised when he didn't hear anything.  He slowly opened the door.

            "Amy?  Is that you?" he called to the figure huddled amongst the machines.  He ran his hand along the walls until he found a light switch.

            He walked toward the girl silently, noticing the odd position of her arm as he drew closer.  Her head seemed to perk up as he came up behind her, and she craned her neck as best she could without moving her body.  She opened her mouth to speak, but closed it when she saw him.

            He ducked and covered his ears as she screamed, and the pipe aimed for his head whistled through empty air.  Knuckles turned around.

            "Tails?!"

    Space Colony ARK:  Day 14, 6:16 a.m.—Fly on the Wall

            Eggman paced around the makeshift workshop.  Tails still hadn't returned, and he had no way of knowing where Metal Sonic was.  

            "I told myself I should've planted tracking devices on everyone…" he muttered into his red moustache as he stomped particularly hard on the cold, steel floor.  "One cannot pull off a scheme of this nature without holding all the cards.  All I have is the element of surprise…"  The egg-shaped man sat heavily in a chair in the small room.  He eyed the new space mech he and Tails had constructed to help carry out their plot.  Well, _his plot; Tails had just helped.  The young were so easy to manipulate.  The fox may be a genius, but there's a difference between 'intelligent' and 'smart'.  _

            Eggman worriedly scratched the back of his head; things weren't going well.  Knuckles' current location was unknown.   With any luck, Metal would have already found and dealt with the bat, Sonic would be wandering the halls, completely oblivious to what was going on.  Tails should be on his way to get Amy and bring her back here.  That only left…

            "Dammit.  Shadow, where are you?"

    Space Colony ARK:  Day 14, 6:17 a.m.—Rouge 

            Sonic bent his knees beside her; apparently getting ready to move if necessary.  Rouge readied her wings once more.  She spoke to the blue hedgehog.

            "You have to go find Knuckles and Amy," she said softly.  Sonic looked at her as if she were crazy.

            "What?" he asked, his expression the definition of incredulous.  "You can't take on Metal Sonic!"  

            "I know," she nodded, "but I can't outrun him, either.  If he managed to get past y-"  The robot struck without warning, diving at the bat who was forced to jump out of the way mid-sentence.  Sonic maneuvered his way behind his robotic twin and slammed his elbow right above its jetpack.  The momentum from his attack and the blow from Sonic sent the mechanical hedgehog into the wall, literally.  Sonic and Rouge made their way to the other side of the room as Metal struggled to free his head from the wall.

            "That dent on his head… did you do that?"  the hedgehog asked.  Rouge winked.

            "Maybe."  Sonic shook his head.

            "Okay.  I can see your point about me going, but… why Amy and Knuckles?"

            "They're the only other ones we can trust," the bat answered solemnly.  

            "What about Tails?"

            "…I'm sorry."

            "You mean… NO!  I've known Tails since he was just a kid.  He'd never-"      

            "Get going, Sonic!  I can take care of things here."  Rouge shoved him.  "Avoid everyone except Amy and Knuckles.  Find them, and take them outside to the storage meteor.  I'll meet you there later after I shake the tin can."  Metal Sonic was almost free.

            "But what about-" Sonic was cut off again as Rouge kissed him full on the mouth.

            "Give that to Knuckles for me."  Her grin faded as she turned back to the struggling robot.  Sonic blushed as he turned toward the door.

            "…I think he'd be happier to get that in person!"  He ran to the door.  Rouge smirked, but snapped abruptly to attention.  Metal Sonic was free.

            Sonic paused as his robotic self lunged again toward the bat.  She leapt into the air at the last moment and kicked the robot in the head with her heavy boots, dropping it to the floor.  The blue hedgehog turned and disappeared out the door.

    Space Colony ARK:  Day 14, 6:25 a.m.—Fly on the Wall

            Shadow stared out the window in the control room, listening absent-mindedly to the sounds of the insane Omochao (if such a thing were really possible) as it rammed against its glass prison.  Those sounds were so familiar…

            "Maria…" he muttered softly as he looked at the stars.  He should have acted faster.  Destroying the generator earlier would've saved so much suffering.  It was too late now.  Everyone was going to die up here.  He would see to that personally.

            It was too bad, really.  He'd actually started to like that Sonic.  Rouge wasn't so bad, and Amy was a sweet enough girl.  Tails… well, he hadn't gotten to know Tails at the best time, and there was something about Knuckles that he just didn't like.  But none of that mattered.

            Shadow closed his eyes, waiting for his memories to take him away, but none came.

            He opened his eyes again and once more stared out at the stars.  What was wrong with him?  He always used to do this; sit and remember the times when he was happy.  Why couldn't he now?

            The door slammed open behind him and he heard the voice of Tails.

            "Shadow, come help me!  I can't carry her by myself."  In the arms of the young fox was the still body of Amy Rose.

    Space Colony ARK:  Day 14, 6: 37 a.m.—Eggman 

            The door opened with a bang, causing the mad doctor inside to leap out of his chair with a shout.  Metal Sonic stood at attention, holding the comatose body of Rouge the Bat in his polished arms.  The robot was looking worse for the wear; dents and scratches covered his cobalt body, especially his head and chest.  The bat must have put up quite a fight.

            "Good job, Metal Sonic.  Bring her over here, why don't you?"  The Doctor grinned evilly as his mechanical servant set the woman in the chair Eggman had been occupying moments earlier.  

            The man inspected her closely.  No cuts or scratches or other outward signs of injury.  He turned to Metal, confused.  "What did you do to her?"  Metal Sonic tilted her head forward and pantomimed a blow to the base of her skull.  The Doctor chuckled.  "Couldn't you have tried to tear up her suit a little more?  She's still decent."  When the robot's hands moved toward the top of her suit, Eggman chuckled again.  "I was joking, Metal.  You did fine.  I'm glad you didn't ruin it.  I put far too much work into that outfit."  

            As Eggman checked the bat's pulse the door opened again, this time by the hands of Miles Prower.  The boy glanced at Metal and Rouge.

            "Is she dead?" he asked with an air of nonchalance that was somewhat disturbing to hear coming from a child.  Eggman shook his head.

            "No, just unconscious.  It's a good thing, too.  We can use her to our advantage.  One damsel in distress is enough of a stressor, but two?  Sonic'll crack under the pressure and we'll both be avenged."  Tails smiled widely at the old man, and looked at the bat again.

            Nobody heard the faint footsteps rushing down the hall.

    Space Colony ARK:  Day 14, 6:51 a.m.—Fly on the Wall

            Sonic ran down the halls, eyes and ears open for any sounds or movement.  _You shouldn't have left her back there with that thing...  _he thought to himself.  _You know that she doesn't stand a chance against Metal Sonic.  She's tough, but she won't be able to keep ahead of him for long…_

            "But she told me to go…" he murmured to himself, voice lost in rush of air against his face as he continued his dash down the hallways.  As he turned a corner, a sudden obstacle caused him to stop dead in his tracks.

            "Gun robots!" he gasped, recovering from his momentary shock and sidestepping the outdated machine's clumsy attack.  "I thought we destroyed all of those!"  As Sonic attacked, his ears picked up another sound.  _Footsteps!_

            A figure came around the corner just as the wrecked bot fell to the floor.  Sonic fell into a ready stance as it came closer.

            "Sonic!"  The hedgehog blinked as the other came into the light.  

            "Knuckles, where have you been?" the blue hedgehog demanded, casting off the warriors stance like a well worn suit.  "I've been looking for you everywhere!"

            "Hiding from you guys, of course!  I don't do well in enclosed spaces, remember?" the echidna shot back, not dropping his guard any.  Sonic rubbed the back of his head.

            "Yeah, sorry about that.  I shoulda listened to Rouge."

            "Speaking of Rouge, we have to go!"

            "What?" Sonic demanded, "Did you see her?"

            "Unfortunately.  Eggman has her." Knuckles said, face blank.  The shorter creature smashed his gloved hand into his fist.

            "Dammit!  I knew I shouldn't have left her alone back there!  Well, let's go, Knuckles.  With the two of us, it shouldn't be to hard to rescue one bat from one old man and a reanimated tuna can."  As Sonic began to walk away, Knuckles put a hand out and caught him by the shoulder.

            "I wasn't finished," he said, sounding sick.  "Eggman doesn't just have Rouge.  He has Amy too."

    Space Colony ARK:  Day 14, 7:00 a.m.—Amy 

            The pink hedgehog opened her eyes gradually to a feeling of unbelievable pain in her left arm.  She tried to look at it, but that proved more difficult than it sounded; probably because her head was currently strapped to something cold and hard.  She winced as lights came on.

            "You awake, Rose?" a voice asked.  Who was it?  They sounded familiar.  Amy tried to speak, but could only croak.  "Hey, metal head," the voice spoke again, "care to get the girl a drink?  Or is that too complicated for your outdated processors?"  …Rouge?  Was that Rouge she heard?  And who was she talking to?  Amy blinked her eyes and tried to focus on the blue shape in the middle of the room.  _Who is that?  Is it Sonic?  'Metal head'…oh no! _ 

            "Stay away from me!" Amy screamed, twisting against whatever was holding her down.  Metal Sonic stayed where he was, not making the slightest movement.  Amy didn't notice this, however.  She continued to shriek and twist, the pain in her broken arm increasing with every hysterical lurch of her small body.  

            "Shut up."  A gloved hand slapped her face just hard enough to get her attention.  Amy stared, shocked, at Shadow the Hedgehog as he held a glass of water up to her face.  Across the room, Metal Sonic's red eyes narrowed.  

            "Shadow, so nice to see you.  I knew you were in on this."

            "Be quiet, thief.  You may have known everything, but you never had a chance of stopping us."  Amy came back to reality.

            "Us?" she asked, "What's going on?  Where's Sonic?"  Shadow smiled.

            "He'll be arriving any minute now."  His smile fell as Rouge clucked her tongue.

            "Really, Shadow.  I expected better from you.  I can believe Tails getting roped into this by the Doctor, but you?  Weren't you smarter than that?"  The bat laughed.  "Some ultimate life form you are."  Shadow crossed to the bat, who was just outside of Amy's line of vision.

            "I wouldn't be laughing at me, thief.  I'm not the one tied up," he sneered.  Rouge's melodious laugh sounded again.

            "God, Shadow, this doesn't seem like you at all.  You seemed almost reformed after the defeat of the Biolizard."  The mention of this event seemed to shock Shadow, as he didn't reply.  "Why the change in heart?  Don't you remember how we all worked together to defeat the prototype and save the earth?   Don't you remember the peace you felt when you kept your promise to Ma-"

            "Don't you dare say her name!"

            "-ria?  Did you hurt your head in that fall?  Or does everything we all went through mean nothing to you?"

            "…I-"  The door opened.

    Space Colony ARK:  Day 14, 7:03 am—Central Control Room; Rouge

            "Rouge, quit making trouble or we may decide that one hostage is enough."  Dr. Eggman's voice rang through the control room.  Shadow paused in midspeech and went stock still.  "Shadow, Tails, is everything ready?  They'll be coming soon, I should think."

            "Affirmative, Doctor," Tails' young voice sounded from the inside of a mechanized suit the size of a human child that Rouge hadn't noticed a moment before.  "Everything's ready on my end."  Eggman grinned at the boy and turned his attention to the black hedgehog.

            "And you, Shadow? Are you set?"  Shadow managed to close his gaping mouth and nodded at the old man.  "Excellent.  Now all we have to do is wait!"  Eggman clapped his hands together and danced excitedly from foot to foot.  He was so caught up that he didn't notice as Shadow approached him from behind.  "Just think, after all these years!  Sonic the Hedgehog will be out of my hair for good!"

            "What hair?" a voice sounded from the back of the room.  Everyone sans Rouge and Amy turned their heads in the direction it had come from.  "Don't you think you're giving yourself a little too much credit, Egghead?"

            "Sonic!" Amy Rose cried, knowing who it was without having to see, "Hurry!  Cut us loose!"  The girl began to thrash wildly in her bonds.  As Eggman and Sonic continued to banter back and forth, Rouge's sensitive ears picked up on a dejected sounding whisper.

            "No… he wasn't supposed to get here yet!  Ruined… all ruined…"  She gasped as she saw what Shadow held in his hands.

   —_Knuckles_

"Ah, good to see you again, Sonic," Eggman grinned.  "So glad you were able to find us.  We were about to start the party without you."  The doctor gestured to the girls secured to the metal support beams behind him.  Sonic glanced at them before returning his attention to the old man.  _Good… just keep his attention off of me…_

"I'm glad I made it, then.  What kind of party is this, anyway?  Is it someone's birthday?" the hedgehog asked snidely as Knuckles crept silently forward toward the beams that Amy and Rouge were currently tied to.

"Close, my old friend," Eggman said, stepping forward.  "This is your going away party, marking today as the first day of the rest of my life.  I guess you could consider this my birthday party."  Sonic grinned fiercely.

"Sorry, Egghead.  It seems I don't have a gift for you.  Will this do?"  With that, Sonic leapt toward the old man, a kicked aimed at his head.  

Knuckles stopped in his tracks as he saw two metallic blurs rush at the hedgehog from both sides.   Sonic was sent flying backwards with a yelp as Metal Sonic and Tails, in his mech, struck at once.  The hedgehog bounced off the wall and lay still on the floor.  The red echidna turned his attention once more to his target.

"NO!"

    —_Eggman_

            The doctor watched, feeling oddly satisfied, as his creations rushed the fallen hedgehog.  The only things ruining the moment were the murderous shrieks Amy was emitting.  He would put up with it, though.  After all, he wouldn't want to ruin the mood.

            "-sorry it had to be like this, Rouge," he heard Shadow say behind him, "…tried to get us out of this place… only ever brought death."  Eggman turned to see the black hedgehog forcing the muzzle of a large gun against the suspended bat's heart.  Wait a second, that wasn't just _any _gun!  That was _his Eggblaster!_

            "Shadow, stop it!  What are you doing?  That's not part of the plan!" he said, waving his arms vigorously.  The hedgehog didn't even glance at him, so intent on his conversation with the wide-eyed bat.

            "I'll get us all out of here, one way or another… it was nice knowing you."  He smiled, kissed her hand, and leveled the weapon at her chest.  His face… his face was the very picture of serenity.  "Goodbye, Rouge."

            "NO!"  Before Shadow could react, a red blur shot from the shadows behind the pillars, striking the black hedgehog full in the face.  Eggman stared, dumbfounded, at the form of Knuckles the Echidna, bloodied fist outstretched, standing over the prone body of Shadow.

            "…well _this wasn't part of the plan…" he muttered._

    —_Sonic  _

            "…Hot damn!  What hit me?"  The blue hedgehog wondered aloud as he sat up and shook his head.  Standing in front of the doctor, their battle-ready bodies glistening, were Metal Sonic and… "Tails?"

            Sonic didn't have any time to wonder at the situation as the two were currently rushing at him.  He managed to get to his feet and jump out of the way of the two steel-covered fists as the crashed into the wall behind him, denting it noticeably.  He winced.  "Hey, guys!  Let's take it easy, okay?  That was almost my head there!"  Metal Sonic immediately rushed at him as Tails stalled for a moment.  Moving faster than thought, his organic counterpart dropped onto his back and caught the robot with his feet.  Using Metal's own momentum, he flipped the bot over his head and onto the floor some distance away.  Sonic rolled just in time to avoid the heavy foot of Tails' mech as it crashed down on the spot he'd just been occupying.

            "Hold still!" the boy shouted, frustrated at the slowness of his and Eggman's collaborative project.  "How'm I supposed to kill you if you keep dodging?"   Sonic blinked and dodged another blow from the heavy-fisted contraption.

            "Whoa whoa whoa!  Are you serious, little buddy?" he asked, looking incredulous.  "You used to laugh when people said stuff like that!  Why the sudden change in heart?"  Tails' gritted his teeth.

            "Don't call me 'little buddy'!  I'm not your little buddy!" he snarled as he tried another attack, missing by several inches.  Sonic "tsked" as he effortlessly dodged blow after blow.

            "Tails, why are you doing this?  What on earth could that old bastard possibly say to make a smart kid like you act so dumb?" Sonic ducked to avoid Tails' blow.  The fox drew back for another hit.

            "Like you don't know?" he hissed, steel-covered fist whistling harmlessly through the air for the umpteenth time.  His old friend drew his brows together.

            "Of course I-"  the hedgehog was abruptly silenced as the forgotten Metal Sonic attacked from behind, knocking his organic counterpart into Tails' outstretched fist.

    Earth:  Day 14, 7:08 a.m.—Transmission from the President

            "-sure you've got all that?" the voice buzzed through the headset.  The recipient of the message nodded her head, though the speaker couldn't see it.

            "Positive, Sir," the small woman answered, adjusting the helmet on her head.  "Our team is currently on board the shuttle waiting for you to issue the liftoff."

            "Excellent."  The agent dimly heard the sound of the president ordering the take off of the shuttle _MOBIUS before he spoke directly to her once again.  "I don't have to tell your team to be careful.  I'm sure you all know how dangerous Dr. Eggman is.  First find out if Rouge is alive, and be sure you bring back __everyone currently on the colony, especially Project Shadow."  The woman again affirmed her understanding. _

            As the shuttle began to shake viciously, she and the other agents gripped the harnesses that kept them to their chairs.  Before the transmission was cut, the woman heard the voice of the president in her ear.

            "Remember, Helen, I want Eggman _alive_."

    Space Colony ARK:  Day 14, 7:10 a.m.—Omochao 

            He watched from his glass prison at the battle that was taking place on two fronts suddenly turned to three.  His good friend Knuckles had cut the pretty bat loose not a moment to soon.  The instant her feet hit the floor the black hedgehog had regained consciousness and grabbed her by the ankle.  Knuckles had started forward to help her, but a movement from the fat man caught his attention, and he faced him instead.  The pretty pink hedgehog remained suspended from the metal beam, shrieking wordlessly at something going on across the room.  Omochao turned to see what was going on.

            Oh!  The blue hedgehog Sonic had just been hit twice by the metal creatures attacking him.  Wait… wasn't one of them his friend, the little fox boy?  The tiny robot found himself horribly confused.

            Turning back to the other battle scene, Omochao hopped back as the pretty bat was knocked into his holding cell rather had.  The black hedgehog, face bleeding rather badly from two holes in his cheek, advanced on her.  The girl leapt to her feet and kicked him, sending him through the air and crashing into the pillar that held Amy Rose.  The hedgehog girl screamed ever louder as the black hedgehog hit her left arm.  Odd, it looked… broken.

            The small bot was startled out of his thoughts again as the robotic Sonic-look-alike was hurled into his glass cell with a terrible force.  The glass shattered.  

            Omochao was free.

    —_Eggman  _

            Noticing that the echidna was momentarily distracted by Shadow's attack on Rouge, Eggman made a move for the Eggblaster lying on the floor between them.  Unfortunately, Knuckles snapped immediately back to attention, raising his bloody, gloved fist menacingly.  The doctor backed up immediately and raised his own hands.

            "Now now, Knuckles, you don't want to do anything rash!" he said, eyeing the weapon on the floor from behind his dark glasses.

            "Oh really now, Doctor?  I'm thinking that rash is exactly what I want to do."  Knuckles gave his namesakes a good crack and started toward the old man.  Eggman glanced around desperately for something to attack with.  His answer came from the sky.  Literally.  

            Knuckles leapt aside as Shadow flew through the air and struck the already screaming Amy Rose.  He quickly repositioned himself to better keep the both of them in his line of vision.  A second later, a gasp from Rouge accompanied by a terrible sound distracted the echidna again.  

            The crash of breaking glass spurred him into action.  Eggman leapt forward and grabbed his Eggblaster.  With a grace that was belied by his awkward shape, he rolled to his feet and pointed the weapon at his archrival.

            "This ends now!"  He fired.

            "SONIC!!"

    —_Tails_

            Doubt clouded the boy's mind; Sonic wasn't behaving at all like the child had thought he would.  Anger, denial, admittance… nothing.  His old best friend seemed genuinely confused by Tails' actions.  What?  Didn't he remember how he'd betrayed him?  Abandoned him time after time on their adventures; left him practically alone on the ARK; nearly _died _and left him alone… 

            _Oh, wait, Eggman was the one who nearly killed him, wasn't he?  The blue hedgehog side-stepped another of the boy's blows, speaking words the fox couldn't hear.  __My very own fake emerald saved Sonic, allowing him to continue the fight against the doctor and the others.  He scowled.  That didn't absolve Sonic of the times he'd run off and left him to fend for himself__._

            _"C'mon Tails!  I know you can make it!"  Sonic called back from slightly ahead of the boy.  Tails panted as he continued._

_            "You…have…to… wait, Sonic!" he gasped, "I can't… keep… up with… you!"  Sonic didn't slow down; instead, he grinned back at the boy._

_            "You're not a baby, Tails.  I know you can do this without my help."  Not missing a beat in his speech, Tails' hero and friend destroyed a robot in his path.  The boy slowed and finally stopped in the garden of broken parts the hedgehog had created.  Sonic glanced back and noticed his absence.  "Hey!  This is no time for a break!  We have to hurry and stop Eggman!"  The fox sullenly raised his head._

_            "Go on without me," he said flatly, "I can't keep up.  I'm not going to be of any help."  Exhausted and angry with himself, he flopped onto his back and stared up at the twinkling diodes that covered every surface in Eggman's _Death Egg_.  Dimly, he heard Sonic approach and sit next to him._

_            "Don't do this to me, buddy.  You've made it this far, you can't give up!  I wouldn't have gotten here without you!"  Tails opened one eye and looked at his friend._

_            "I can't go on, Sonic; you'll have to go ahead without me.  Sorry I let you down."  His eye closed again.  As the hedgehog growled the boy opened his eyes and looked at him again.  He immediately wished he hadn't.  Sonic's face had transformed from its usual carefree, arrogant façade into a hard, angry look that Tails had never seen on anyone before._

_            "You're gonna have to learn to do things yourself, Tails.  I'm not always gonna be around to save you or keep you going.  If you wanna make it anywhere in your life, you're going to have to find your own inner strength; I can't keep lending you mine."  _

_            The conversation ended when Silver Sonic struck from out of nowhere._

            Tails shook his head angrily to clear the last foggy tendrils of the flashback from his mind.  Had Eggman blown Sonic's actions out of proportion?  The hedgehog was a selfish being, yes, but had he ever done anything to intentionally hurt him?  Panic-stricken, the fox racked his brain for something-anything- that Sonic had done to him out of spite or malice.  He came up empty.

            Sonic blinked as Tails froze mid-punch and dropped his heavy fist.  "Eh, Tails?  Yo', you okay in there?"  The boy's eye twitched.  _I've been trying to kill him and he's asking me if everything's okay... what kind of monster have I become?  Sickened, the child glanced around at everyone else in the room.  Sonic, his mentor and friend, was looking at him guardedly but with open concern.  Rouge sitting in a pile of broken glass.  __The escape pod…his mind dimly registered.  Amy still secured to the post, her broken arm swelling larger by the second.  Shadow lying at Amy's feet, shaking his head.  Metal Sonic next to Rouge, his red eyes blinking on and off.  Sonic must have given him a good knock when Tails hadn't been paying attention.  Knuckles was looking alarmed at something, and Tails followed his gaze to Eggman and saw what he held and who he was aiming at.  Everything slowed down._

            "This ends now!"  Eggman pulled the trigger.  Sonic's back was turned and he didn't see the blast. _No…_

            "_He doesn't really care about you!  He uses you as a means to an end.  Tell me, if you two are such good friends, why does he always leave you behind once he doesn't need you?"_

_            "…find your own inner strength…"_

_            "No, I haven't seen him this morning.  He's probably out with Shadow somewhere, as usual."_

_            "…find your own inner strength."_

_            "Let me tell it to you straight, my boy.  People like you and me, the 'geniuses', are a group reserved for times of trouble.  He probably never comes to see you unless there's some sort of problem, eh?"_

_            Find your own inner strength!_

"SONIC!" he cried, leaping forward and shoving the shocked hedgehog aside.  The blast struck him full in the chest, the open cock-pitted mech providing no protection.  He sent an apologetic smile to Sonic, who had frozen in his tracks.

            "Sorry f'that hurt.  I didn't mean to push… so… hard…"  He fell onto his back and lay still.

    —Amy

            Amy watched, horrified, as the blast shot through the air at Sonic.  _He doesn't see it…!_  She also watched as it struck Tails, knocking him onto the floor where he ceased moving.  Tears welled into her eyes and she screamed.

            "I'll get you for that, bastard!" she heard Knuckles snarl from nearby.  Or was he far away?  Gentle hands untying her ropes snapped her back to reality.

            "…not going right at all… should all be dead," Shadow muttered as he took great care in freeing her broken arm.  

            "Shadow, what are you talking about?" she asked, her voice sounding stronger.  Helping others was always something she was good at.  "Who should be dead?"  He held her at her waist as he undid the last of the restraints and lowered her to the ground.  He lowered his forehead to hers and looked into her eyes, seemingly searching for something.

            "…I made a promise, Amy… a promise to myself.  I told myself I would get us all off of this gigantic deathtrap.  I wasn't going to let everyone end up like Maria and the others who were here fifty years ago.  But… I failed.  Now Eggman is about to pull off his revenge… and I can't let that happen."  He turned his dilated pupils to the spot not far off where Eggman was pointing his weapon at Knuckles, who still had the black hedgehog's blood on his glove.  

            "So you're just going to kill us?" she asked skeptically.  Shadow blinked; wasn't she supposed to be out of her mind?

            "I won't directly disobey the doctor; I owe him my new life," he continued solemnly.  "I won't, however, watch him kill you all slowly.  From what I've been told, we were all friends at the end of the adventure."  It was Amy's turn to blink.

            "Don't you remember what happened?" she asked.  Shadow's gentle face fell.

            "I was never there."  He raised his hand to her throat and squeezed.  Her eyes widened as she saw he was in earnest about his grim task; he really planned to kill them all.  

            "Sha…dow…" she wheezed, but knew it would do no good after looking into his cold, merciless eyes.  _The ultimate weapon…  Something white and quick shot by her vision, taking the black shape that was Shadow with it.  _

    —Sonic

            Sonic stared at Tails, his mind not quite registering what his eyes were seeing.  "Tails?  Tails, answer me!"  He commanded, trying to ignore the way his voice cracked.  The boy continued to lie still inside the metal shell.  Sonic slowly walked forward, resting his fingers against the fox's throat.  _A pulse! _

            Forgetting everything else for a moment, he sank to his knees in relief.  He wasn't quite sure what possessed Tails to turn against them, however briefly, but he'd be sure to find out once all this was over and Eggman was behind bars.  That's right!  He'd forgotten what was going on.  

            He turned just in time to see Rouge clock Shadow in the face with her heavy boots and Amy fall to the floor.  Eggman had his Eggblaster practically covering Knuckles' snout.  He started forward when a soft voice stopped him in his tracks.  On the floor next to Metal was… Omochao?

            "Wait… If you wait, Eggman will say something important," the robotic chao whispered knowingly.  Sonic looked skeptical.  

            "What makes you think so?"

            "I don't _think so; I __know so," the bot said smugly.  Sonic blinked a few times before settling on a decision._

            "Well, you've never steered me wrong in the past, little buddy, so I guess I can trust you."  The hedgehog would later swear that he saw the robotic chao grin.

            "That's a good idea.  Did you know that there are ten animals on this level?"

    —Rouge

            As she sat surrounded by the glass from the shattered escape pod, Rouge was astounded to find herself pouting.  Whenever she got an outfit she really liked it would get ruined in the most outlandish situations.  First that nice dress her father had purchased her when she was six had been used as a spit-up rag for her younger siblings.  Her mother had thrown it out.  Then the sleeveless jumper she wore when she dropped into the president's limo ended up with a cigarette burn through the back and several bleach spots from when the president himself attacked her with window cleaner.  Her mother had thrown that out, too.  And then there was—

            "Amy!" Rouge gasped, staring across the room to where Shadow had her by the throat.  The bat jumped to her feet, calculated the speed she'd need to pull off the attack she had in mind, and ran for it.

            Her feet connected with the side of Shadow's head which sent him flying through the air and Amy to the floor.  Rouge executed a neat little flip and landed on her feet next to the fallen hedgehog.

            "And what do you think you're doing?" she asked him.  "Don't you know you're supposed to play nicely with your friends?"  Shadow wiped blood from his mouth.

            "I should ask you the same question," he countered, displaying the red stain on his glove.  "I don't know what your idea of play is, but I don't think I like it."  He got to his feet and stared at her.  "So it comes to this."

            "It wouldn't have to if you hadn't decided to turn on all your friends," Rouge sniffed haughtily.  Shadow's eyes narrowed.

            "None of you are _my _friends.  You're all _his friends.  I owe you no loyalty."  And he attacked her then, managing to get a blow to her face before she knocked him away and took to the air.  From her place above him, Rouge looked at him quizzically._

            "What's that supposed to mean?  Who's 'he'?"

            "If you haven't figured it out by now, Rouge, it's not important."  The bat eyed him once more before shrugging.  Without warning, she twisted her body violently in the air and shot toward him, feet first.

            "Fine then, be that way!"

    —Knuckles 

            He'd let his guard down!  Him, the lifelong protector of the Master Emerald!  Him, the duty driven, rock solid, battle trained one.  He was half tempted to wrest the gun from Eggman and shoot himself!  

            He didn't, however.  Knuckles stared down the mouth of the gun without a hint of fear on the outside.  Inside he was shaking.  He mindlessly exchanged the expected pre-battle banter with Eggman as he desperately tried to think of a way out of the situation.   Nothing came to mind.

            Out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of Rouge fighting Shadow.  Actually, it was more like Shadow getting the crap kicked out of himself.  

            "What's he doing?  Why isn't he fighting back?" he heard himself say, his mind more intent in figuring out the answer to said question.  Eggman's laugh drew an angry snarl to his face.

            "I don't imagine I'd want to fight much either if I were in his shoes," the fat man laughed.  Knuckles glared at him, asking questions without really thinking, still mindful of the gun pointed at his face.  Eggman continued to ramble on for a few moments with some brief interruptions from the red echidna, until something he said caught Knuckles attention.

            "What do you mean that's not really Shadow?  Just look at him!" the echidna gestured wildly, now extremely confused.  What was the fat old bastard trying to pull?  Eggman's eyes glinted behind the dark glasses.

            "Exactly what I said.  That's not the real Shadow.  For all I know, Shadow's body disintegrated upon impact with the atmosphere.  The Shadow fighting Rouge is a clone of the original, created by myself."  Amy made a small noise, and Knuckles thought he heard Sonic gasp from across the room. The echidna suddenly found himself more confused than before, which then made him unbelievably angry.  And Eggman being close was on the receiving end of Knuckles sudden, fury-driven attack.

            Unfortunately, the doctor decided to attack as well, only a moment sooner.  As a result, Knuckles was stumbling back, disoriented by a blow to the head from the barrel of the Eggblaster.  He got his wits back just in time to see Eggman point the weapon at him once more.

            "Say goodbye, Knucklehead."  The grin fell from his face as Omochao and Amy hit him at the same time.

    —_Sonic_

            "That—that… unbelievable—"  The blue hero found himself at a loss for words.  Just what the hell was going on here?  Not Shadow…?

            "See?  I told you so," the Omochao said smugly, putting his stubby limbs behind his back and looking very pleased.  Sonic glared.

            "Is that it?  Is that what we were waiting for?" he asked the tiny blue bot.  Omochao swiveled his head around to glance at the hedgehog, propeller whirring slowly.

            "Yep."

            "So I can attack him now, right?"

            "I guess so."

            "You _guess?"_

            "…No, go ahead.  It's alright."  Sonic's questioning of the robot was cut off abruptly as he glanced over in Knuckles direction again.

            "Crap!  He's gonna kill 'im!" he exclaimed, getting ready to run when Omochao spoke once more.

            "You should knock the gun out of his hand, first.  Look for something to throw," it advised, flying in front of him, blocking the way.  The blue hedgehog grinned suddenly.

            "I have just the thing!"  He grabbed Omochao out of the air, took aim, and lobbed him at the doctor.  It hit the gun just as Amy's hammer hit his face.

    —_Amy_

            She decided she'd had enough.  The past two weeks had been full of more terror than she'd ever known, even while adventuring with Sonic and Tails.  Tails…  Her anger flared, and she turned her green eyes on the man with the gun pointed at Knuckles.  This was _his fault!  All the fear and helplessness of her time spent aboard the ARK was unleashed, and the result was frightening._

            If any intelligent being had been looking at Amy's face at that very moment, they most likely would've run away in terror; her eyes were so ablaze with anger that they shone in the dim room; her jaw was clenched so tightly that the area around her mouth had gone white.  And clutched in her good hand was, inexplicably, her Piko Piko hammer.  

            His fault that they were stuck up here.  His fault that she had been left alone.  His fault that Miss Rouge had nearly died.  His fault that Tails had turned against them.  His fault that Tails was lying very still across the room.  Well, she would make him pay!

            Amy charged toward the Doctor, pain in her broken arm forgotten.  She hit the ground, denting the steel and sending her into the air.  When she was above him, the girl swung her hammer with all her strength, catching the man in the side of the face and sending him crashing to the floor on the other side of the room.  Meanwhile, Omochao had collided with the Eggblaster, and the two exploded when they hit the floor.

            Amy landed gracefully enough, stumbling a bit as her feet touched down.  She panted for a few seconds, eyes searching the room.  Locating the fallen doctor, she let out a shriek of rage and charged at him again, hammer dropped on the floor.  Knuckles watched, a stupid expression on his face, as she jumped on the man and began to beat him with her fist.

            "'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned…'" he muttered, glancing around the room.  A woman's cry behind him caused him to turn around, and he remembered the other battle going on in the room.

    —_Shadow _

The bat was _winning!  How?  _He _was the ultimate life form, not her!  She was just a low-class thief.  Albeit, her fighting skills were exceptional, but his should __far outweigh hers._

            "Holding back, Shadow?  C'mon, I know you can do better than this!" she taunted, still managing to look beautiful despite the mocking expression on her face.  _Exactly what I was thinking…the hedgehog thought.  _

            "I would never want to hurt you, Rouge," he sneered in the form of a comeback.  "After all, this fight seems so unfair.  If I used my full power, you'd be done in an instant.  You couldn't even get out of the security hall by yourself, remember?"  She glared and bared her fanged teeth in a nasty smile.

            "Say whatever you want, Shadow.  I'm still mopping the floor with you."  Her glare slipped off her face as if it was greased, replaced by a sweet look.

            "…what's that?" he asked warily, not liking her look.  With the same sweet smile she kicked him in the stomach.  He coughed up a bit of blood onto the bodice of her outfit.  Her smile remained.

            "Who were you talking about earlier, Shadow?" she asked, ducking beneath his punch, and attacking again.  This one he dodged, but her fist caught him in the side as she spun.

            "I gave you my answer," he said stubbornly, falling onto his back as she pinned him.

            "What if I don't like it?" she asked softly, leaning her face close to his.  Great, this was all he needed.  Now she was getting friendly.

            "You'll—have to l-l-learn to," he stuttered.  Stuttering?  _HIM?!  _What was coming over him, anyway?  Shadow shook his head.  "You can't always have everything you want."  

            "Are you sure?" she whispered.  The hedgehog tried desperately to move his arms, but she had both his arms and legs pinned securely.  She leaned in closer, if that were possible, and Shadow shut his eyes.  This was a waste of a movement as he opened them a second later.

            Rouge had her arm pressed lightly against his throat, and she smirked at him, her face still frighteningly close.  "Maybe you should… reconsider?"  

            "Get off me," he hissed, wriggling.  The bat frowned slightly and applied a bit more force to her gentle push.

            "Not quite the answer I wanted.  Why won't you tell me, Shadow?  I always thought we were such good friends."  

            "You'd know better than I, thief," he spat, disappointed when his words seemed to have no effect.  "Although I highly doubt that someone with my brains would find himself being friendly with _you."  Her frown deepened and she pushed harder._

            "Fine then, I'll beat it out of Eggman.  As for you, Shadow, I can't have you conscious enough to sneak up on me again, so I'll just take care of that first."  Shadow suddenly found himself unable to breathe.  _How did she get so strong?  Women aren't supposed to have this kind of strength! _he thought dimly, still trying to wriggle out of her hold.  

            Stars began to explode in his vision, and he thrashed more madly than before, but the bat continued to hold him down effortlessly, or so it seemed.  It was merely by accident that he raised his head and it collided with hers. The blow was so powerful it had enough force to knock her off of him and onto the floor.  He took his chance and leapt at her.

    —_Sonic_

            Sonic was shocked.  No, actually, it was more like awe.  He'd had _no idea what Amy could do when she was genuinely angry.  He made a mental note to never allow that to happen again, or at least not with him on the receiving end._

            "Eh… Amy?" he called half-heartedly, "Amy… I- uh, I think you got him!"  Sonic, being as smart as he was speedy, was wise enough not to try too hard to get her attention.  Her rage was quite terrifying.  And it was fun to watch her single-handedly smack the tar out of Dr. Robotnik.  

            However, when the old man began coughing out a red substance that looked suspiciously like blood, Sonic felt it was time to intervene.  A good beating was one thing, but death?  He was certain that Amy wouldn't want that on her conscience when she came to her senses.

            "Amy…" he said gently, grabbing her good arm as it was about to swing again.  She struggled briefly, then stopped.  The blue hedgehog could see the anger drain out of her eyes as she sank to the floor, sobbing.  Now thoroughly confused, Sonic sat beside her and reached out and tentatively patted her shoulder.  "Amy?  Don't cry… what's wrong?"  She began to hiccup and buried her face in his shoulder.

            "T-T-Tails…" she sobbed, sniffling loudly, "he k-killed Tails."  

            "No, he didn't, Amy.  Tails is alright, he's just unconscious," the hero explained, patting her back awkwardly.  Her head snapped up, eyes wide and red from the tears. 

            "Are you sure?" she whispered, tears ceasing for the moment.  Sonic blinked twice and slowly nodded his head.  

            "A-Amy?  What is it now?" he asked, terribly baffled, as the girl's lip quivered and her eyes filled again.  Before he knew it, she was bawling.  Again.

            Once the pink hedgehog had pulled herself together, the two crossed the room and gently disengaged Tails, still out cold, from the machine and lay him on the floor.  Amy wasted no time in crying on him, too.

            "Oh for the love of—Amy! Stop that," Sonic ordered, the whole teary business making him feel thoroughly uncomfortable.  Amy lifted her head to tell him off, but screamed instead.  Before the blue hedgehog could turn, a strong fist collided with his head, sending him crashing, for the umpteenth time, into a wall.

    —_Rouge_

            Her head was aching as he leapt on her, pinning her to the floor as she had done to him.  Blood trickled into her eye, and she realized he must have hit her hard enough to cause her forehead to bleed.  The bat shook her head angrily, trying to get it to stop running down her face, when she felt his glove wipe it away.  She opened her eyes and, before turning her head to face him, noticed, oddly enough, a hole in the floor that appeared to have been blasted in. 

            "Now look who has who," Shadow's voice mocked as he leaned closer to her as she had done only moments before.  His chest fur was rubbing against her smooth skin in a rather uncomfortable way, and she glared at him.

            "Wanna switch?" she asked, "I, frankly, like it much better on top."  Her remark seemed to throw Shadow for a loop, as he loosened his hold.  Rouge attempted to throw him off during his moment of confusion, but he recovered too quickly.

            "I'd watch what I say if I were you, bat," he snarled, "I might begin to take you seriously, and neither one of us wants that, I'm sure."  Rouge quirked an eyebrow, her frown turning into a strange smile.

            "I'm not quite sure what kind of threat you just issued, Shadow, but I don't suppose it matters."  She raised one shoulder as best she could and lowered her eyelids.  "I'll be out of your hold before you know it."

            "Arrogant as usual, I see," he said softly, "but it won't save you from me, Rouge."  She laughed.

            "My, feeling dramatic today, are we?  I can't wait to see your face when I return to beating you bloody."  Shadow's rage swelled, and he slapped her across the face.  She recovered quickly and gave him a mocking grin.  "What kind of hit was that, Shadow?  Losing your touch?"  He frowned deeper, his face so hard it looked like it would brake if struck.

            "Not hardly," he snorted, "I'm not one for mercy, but you looked so pitiful…"

            "Well, that's the most sensible thing I've heard from you for days," the bat exclaimed, "You never _were_ one for mercy.  Oh, I'm so sorry, _he wasn't one for mercy."  The black hedgehog's frown lessened._

            "So, you've figured me out?"

            "I think I have.  I thought you were being a little too nice to be the real Shadow.  He would never hold me like this."  The clone was somewhat taken aback.

            "Very good," he murmured, "Now do you understand?"

            "Why you've gotta kill us all?" she asked.  He nodded.  "I haven't a clue."  The hedgehog shook his head.

            "And just when you were starting to show a sign of some intelligence."  It was her turn to glare.

            "Shadow, the fact that you were re-created by Doctor Eggman doesn't mean that you aren't a thinking being with a mind and a heart.  You don't have to do this."  Shadow, if the frown on his face was anything to go by, looked unconvinced.  Rouge sighed.  "At the risk of sounding horribly cliché, you have to make your own way.  The wishes of your creator mean nothing.  Mindless obedience is best left to unthinking beings like Metal Sonic over there.  Eggman let you keep your mind, which means you have a choice."

            "I-"

            "Come back to earth with us!"  Shadow could resist it no longer.  He bent his head and kissed her.

            "NO!"

    —_Amy_

Amy stared, horrified, as her hero was thrown into the wall.  

            "STOP IT!" she shrieked.  "STOP IT, METAL!"  The robot looked back at her and tilted its head as if in thought.  It walked over slowly, and she shrank back, though still standing protectively in front of Tails.  The robot gestured to her with a long, pointed digit, and she tilted her head.

            "Me?  I'm A-Amy.  Don't you remember?  I m-m-met you years ago.  You kidnapped me."  A light came on in the machine's eyes.  It reached out to her but was hit by Sonic before it could touch her.  The robot turned purposefully and punched.  Its organic counterpart soared across the room into yet another wall.  Amy stared at it, horrified. 

            "How dare you do that to my Sonic!?" she screamed, hammer again in her hands.  She managed one good hit before the robot wrenched the weapon from her grip and threw it across the room.  It stared at her silently for a moment before turning and striding to where Sonic lay on the floor.  

            Amy set her face in a hard expression.  "Thinks he can get away with that, does he?  I'll show him."  She dove into the empty mech beside her that Tails' unconscious body had occupied moments before and started it up.  That robot was going to be sorry he'd ever messed with _her _Sonic!

    —_Knuckles_

            The echidna turned as he heard a small cry, thinking that it sounded somewhat familiar.  As he saw the source, he felt his eyes widen.  Shadow was holding down and kissing a wide-eyed Rouge, who seemed to be struggling beneath him.  A terrible rage filled Knuckles as he took in the scene, wondering at the cause of his anger.  Without a second thought, he hurled himself at the black hedgehog, knocking him off of the bat and into a wall, where he crumpled to the floor.

            "Sha-Shadow…" Rouge was still on the ground, but had sat up some and was running a finger across her mouth.  Knuckles reached down and jerked her roughly to her feet.  

            "Did he hurt you?"  His question seemed to snap her out of her confused state and she turned her nose up.

            "Him?  Hurt… me?  Pfft, not hardly," she snorted.  Knuckles wasn't very convinced, but had no more time to dwell on it as Shadow had just climbed to his feet not three meters away.  The dark hedgehog looked away from Rouge and out the window.

            "It seems I interpreted your actions wrong, thief," he spat, "Don't think this miscalculation on my part changes anything.  I will finish what I started."  Rouge opened her mouth to speak but Knuckles beat her to it.

            "I'd like to see you try!" he shouted, but it was short-lived.  Rouge had placed a hand on his chest and stepped toward the hedgehog.

            "You aren't coming back with us, then?" she asked him casually, but her fingers tightened on the red echidna's fur.  Shadow glanced at her for a moment, then back out the window.

            "No."  The bat's face hardened.

            "Fine; I stand by my earlier words.  I'll have to knock you unconscious and then go take care of Eggman."  She glanced at Knuckles, removing her hand from him and grinning crookedly.  "Care to give a lady a hand?"  The echidna could see Shadow's shoulders tense for a moment, though why was a complete mystery.  He answered the bat's grin with one of his own.

            "I don't see any ladies around here," he said, and she smiled.

            "Good enough!"  They charged.

    —_Metal Sonic_

            Target found.  Accessing data.  Name:  Amy Rose  Residence:  Station Square  Status:  Minor  Past Encounters:  Unknown.  

            The robot was confused.  It felt that it knew this girl from somewhere, but it had either been erased or too far back in its memory banks to be accessed.  His master had, for the duration of his stay on the ARK, blocked uneccisary data so that it could not be accessed without a significant reminder.  Nonplussed by this fact, Metal pointed to the girl and waited for her to explain.  She looked frightened.

            "Me?  I'm A-Amy.  Don't you remember?  I m-m-met you years ago.  You kidnapped me."  Ah yes, that was it; on the Little Planet during his master's quest for the time stones.  His master had made him kidnap this girl and guard her like a treasure, then race his organic counter part for her.

            The robotic hedgehog, in what would almost be described as nostalgia, reached once more for the prize he'd once guarded, but was stopped when his sensors detected a blow to the back of his head that made him stumble.  Angered as much as is possible for an unthinking being, Metal turned and punched his attacker, sending him flying.  Oh… it was _him!  _

            Casting one last glance back at Amy, Metal started toward the fallen hedgehog; the impossible hatred he felt toward him burning his circuits.  He had just reached the being when a sound stopped him in his tracks.  That was the sound of the mechanical device his master and the child had created.  But, the child was on the floor.  Who could be-

            "Stop!  Leave him alone!" a girlish voice cried as the heavy fist of the mech hit one of his shoulders, knocking him off balance.  Metal Sonic regained his footing and realized that the pilot was Amy Rose.  His proccessors worked at lightening speed.

            Current Mission:  Destroy blue hedgehog  Previous Mission:  Guard two females; sub missions:  prevent from escape and prevent others near  Previous Mission:  Destroy Bat  

            No, there was nothing in there about attacking Amy Rose, only guarding.  Metal dug deeper.

            Current Mission; Instructions; Limitations:  Not to destroy any part of the room uneccessarily; Not to attack Prowers or Shadow the Hedgehog;  Do not damage Space Mecha

            Metal dodged a blow as he thought a way out of his situation.

            Basic Programming; Fighting; Instructions:  Follow orders unless Master or Self is in dire threat to existence.

            Metal dodged another blow and alternated his programming.

            Current Mission; Instructions; Limitations:  Deleting "Do not damage Space Mecha" … Instruction Deleted.

            Metal's eyes flashed red as he struck at Amy Rose in succession, knocking her onto her back.  Content that he'd taken care of his distraction in a sensible fashion, the robot returned to his real goal.  Unfortunately, a black shape bowled into him, knocking him off course once more.

    —_Shadow_

It had been a mistake.  A terrible mistake.  He could never go back with them now.  Nor would he want too.  The black hedgehog cast a quick glance at the two treasure hunters and turned it immediately back out the window.  He knew he wasn't in love with her, but for a brief moment he'd thought he'd like to be.

            His thoughts were interrupted as Rouge and Knuckles flew toward him; Shadow frowned and stood his ground, determined not to move.  _Let it end, _he thought, _My__ current existence is unnatural anyway; a perversion of nature.  Best to let it go now instead of ruining the memory of my true self.  A movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention as the bat and echidna drew closer.  _Amy…and Sonic!__

            Faster than thought the black hedgehog abandoned his current battle and shot forward, his form a black blur as he neared the mechanical hedgehog.  He leapt forward, catching the monstrosity in the side and knocking it to the ground.

            "Stop," he said calmly, climbing once more to his feet.  Behind him he could hear Rouge and Knuckles as they ground to a halt and turned to watch him.  At his feet, Metal Sonic twitched, one of his arms having come loose from its socket and clawing uselessly at the steel floor.  "We can't allow this to go on, Metal.  You have to get the doctor and take him out of here."  The robot's eyes flashed once more as it began processing the new order.  Apparently the bot didn't think Shadow had the authority to order him around, because it got to its feet and raised its one arm, the beam cannon mounted there rising and taking aim.  The black hedgehog raised his eyebrows.  

            "Oh really now, Metal.  I don't think there's any cause for that.  It's simple; your master's life is in danger.  You must take him out of here."  Metal glanced over at the fallen doctor, eyes flickering brighter then dimmer as it appeared to think.  Its head snapped back and the cannon charged.  Shadow frowned.  "Fine."  He attacked.

            A kick to the chin sent the robotic hedgehog skidding across the floor to land by a hole.  _A hole?__  How did that…wait!  Shadow had an idea.  One that would solve all their problems.  He turned to Rouge, who was standing with Knuckles some distance away.  He dimly registered the sound of the robot's cannon still charging behind him._

            "Get everyone out, Rouge!  Now!" he called.  "Get to the storage meteor as fast as you can.  The echidna can carry Sonic and Tails.  I'll clean up here."  The bat looked at the floor.

            "Will you be coming along?" she asked softly, so quiet he could hardly hear.  He shook his head.  "I see…  Well," she saluted him, "don't fail your mission."  He shot her a smile.

            "You either.  Now go."  He kicked the robot again as it tried to stand and followed it to the edge of the hole.  Beneath him the power source for the Eclipse Cannon swirled and flashed brilliantly.  He paid no heed to the others as they ran from the room; Amy still in the mech.  "Now… we end this."

            Shadow dragged the unconscious Doctor Eggman over to the remaining escape pod and entered the proper code.  He watched through the window as the small cylinder shot toward the earth.  Satisfied, he strode back to the robot.  Mercilessly, he kicked Metal Sonic into the hole and watched as the still charging cannon reacted with the energies in the room beneath and the robotic copy exploded.

            Shadow stood on the edge, staring into the vortex.  "It's time, I suppose.  I've put this off long enough."  He tilted his head back and closed his eyes, arms held out.  With a final exhale, he leaned forward and fell into the light.

    —_Sonic_

He came to almost instantly, the healing power of the Master Emerald still coursing through his body.  His first thought as he became aware was a simple one.

            "Tails!" 

            "Right here," a soft voice beside him said.  The hedgehog turned to see his friend smile at him hesitantly.  "Look, Sonic, about before…"  The blue hero cut the boy off with a crushing hug.

            "Good to have you back, little buddy," he said, letting go quickly so as not to embarrass either of them.  "Promise me one thing, will you?"  The fox nodded.  "Don't hit me with that mech again. It hurt like hell."  Tails nodded tearfully and turned away, sniffling quietly. 

            "Excuse me…?" a young woman's voice sounded from his left.  He turned and realized he didn't recognize her.  She was short for a human, but tall compared to his friends.  She had a rather official-looking uniform on, and stood upright, hands at her sides.

            "Helen!" Rouge exclaimed, looking surprised.  "About time you guys got here!  Took your sweet time, I see."  She got to her feet.

            "You knew these guys were coming Miss Rouge?" Amy asked from the floor a few feet away from him. 

            "Not a clue," the bat shrugged, still looking at the young woman.  Helen eyed the group carefully.

            "Where're Project Shadow and Doctor Robotnik?" she asked her fellow agent.  Rouge glanced at the floor.

            "Shadow- I mean, _Project _Shadow, didn't make it.  He was in the central control room with Doctor Eggman.  There was an explosion," she explained, scratching behind one of her ears.  Helen raised an eyebrow.

            "I see.  The doctor is dead as well then?"  Rouge shrugged once more.

            "Presumably.  What you see here is all that's left of our motely crew.  So, gonna take us home?"  Helen smiled, directing a few people who came in behind her to search the control room for any sign of the bodies.

            "Of course.  I'll take you all out of here personally."  Sonic climbed wearily to his feet and began to follow the young woman out.

            "So, how're things at work without me, Helio?" he heard Rouge ask from up ahead as she walked next to Helen.  

            "Quiet," she answered back.  As Sonic walked along behind the two, he glanced at the agents filing by him down the halls.  One in particular caught his eye.

            "Nack?!" he exclaimed, grabbing the arm of the weasel as he passed.

            "Fang now, Sonic," he grinned, "It's good to see you again."

            "You too, I guess."  The hedgehog scratched his head.  "How did you get in this job?" he asked, genuinely curious.  The weasel pushed his hat up with his thumb.

            "Got a recommendation from Rouge up there.  We met a few years back while scavenging the same ruins.  Camped together for the night.  When I woke up she'd run off with all my stuff."  He laughed.  "I've still gotta get her back for that, but I guess I can hold off since she got me this nice job."  Sonic grinned, and the two exchanged their goodbyes.  He followed the rest of his group toward the shuttle room while Nack- well, Fang- continued in the opposite direction.

            A few hours later found them on the planet.  The whole group whooped and jumped around, relieved to be back out into the sunshine and fresh air.  Knuckles went so far as to flop into the dirt and roll in the grass a bit as Amy cried at the sight of flowers.  Even Rouge looked a little misty-eyed.

            "Well guys, I guess it's time I took off.  I've gotta go report to my boss," the bat, still standing next to Helen, waved to each of them in turn, her gaze slightly lingering on Knuckles.  "I, eh, I guess I'll be seeing you around."  She turned and started for a black limousine that was parked at the edge of the shuttle compound.  Helen turned to them all.

            "Please stay in town.  The President wants to hold a ceremony in honor of your bravery."  She nodded to them and followed the bat.  The rest of the group stood in place, not quite sure what to do next.

            "Well, I guess I'll be heading back to the hotel.  Tails and Knuckles… you guys can stay with me until after the ceremony, I guess," Sonic offered, scratching his head.  Knuckles nodded and Tails looked away, sniffling out an acceptance.  "Amy, will you be making it home alright?"  Amy also nodded, looking in the direction Rouge had gone.

            "I'm gonna miss her," the pink hedgehog murmured, waving as the bat got into the limo.  "She was great company up there."  Sonic nodded in agreement, is brain bothering him that he was forgetting something.  Oh!

            "Knuckles, I never gave you Rouge's message!" he said suddenly, whirling to face his ally.  The echidna blinked a few times and waited as Sonic looked unsure.

            "…Well?  What is it?" he demanded after a few moments of waiting.  The blue hedgehog tapped his foot, apparently deep in thought.  Suddenly, an idea struck him.

            "She wanted me to pass along one of these!"  Quick as lightning, Sonic grabbed Amy Rose by her shoulders and kissed her on the lips.  Amy's arms dropped limply with shock as Tails' mouth fell open so far it looked as if it were about to touch the ground.  Even Knuckles eyes widened far beyond their natural ability.  The blue hedgehog pulled back abruptly and turned to Knuckles.

            "So?  What're you waiting for?  Follow that car!"  He pointed off down the street in the direction that the limo had gone.  Knuckles nodded slowly and shot off like a bullet after the disappearing exhaust trail.  Sonic turned back to Amy, who was looking up at him with large, watery eyes.

            "Oh Sonic…" she sighed, pushing her lips out slightly and leaning forward.  The blue hedgehog suddenly began to sweat rather badly as he leaned backwards.

            "A-Amy, I-" he stuttered as her face got closer and closer to his own.  "Tails, lets get outta here!"  The fox shrugged and took off after Sonic.

            "At least now things are back to normal," he muttered as his hero dashed ahead of him.  Amy, still leaning forward, lost her balance and fell to the ground.  She sat up, an odd smile playing on her lips.

            "SONIC!" she shouted, "Get back here!"  She got up and ran after the disappearing figures.  "I hate it when they leave me behind!" she said under her breath as she, too, disappeared into the city.

--Fin (finally!)

            Big congrats to winner Heliotrope, and our runner up KawaiiKaren who, unfortunately, failed to respond to my e-mail.  Still, here is your mention.  Thanks to everyone who stuck through this, even though it took me an ungodly amount of time.  I'm looking for a place to post my Title picture for this, so if any of you have a website and wouldn't mind hosting it until I get my own domain, I'd really appreciate it.  Once again, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed my story.  Any confusion, just e-me at eagibbs@attbi.com  --Elsy~.^


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